Elbow Pass Complex Fires closes in on 20,000 acres with no containment

USFS photo by Byron Bonney(AUGUSTA)- The Elbow Pass Complex Fires are continuing to grow, and at nearly 20,000 acres are the largest fires in the western part of Montana this year.

The fires are a combination of five separate blazes that were ignited by lightning storms that passed through the Bob Marshall Wilderness and the mountains along the Rocky Mountain Front in July. Four of the fires have since merged into one large fire about 25-miles southwest of Augusta.

A return to hot, dry weather made for more fire activity over the weekend, as crews continue to monitor the fire’s spread along the South Fork of the Sun River. There’s zero containment on the fires, which are continuing to burn in what the Forest Service calls rough, “inaccessible terrain”.

There are 15,535 acres burned on the Lewis & Clark National Forest, 275 acres on the Lolo National Forest and 3,014 acres on the Flathead National Forest. The Falls Point Fire had had minimal spread and remains at 281 acres. Total for the Elbow Pass Complex is currently 19,105 acres.