Destructive wildfire in southeastern Montana forces evacuations and claims land

BIRNEY — The Remington fire has taken over southeastern Montana, and as of Sunday afternoon, has burned over 196,000 acres and is at 0% containment, according to MT Fire Info .

The fire first began in Wyoming on Thursday but quickly crossed the Montana-Wyoming border spreading rapidly, affecting Rosebud, Powder River, and Big Horn counties.

Pre-evacuation orders are in place for residences on Tongue River Road between Ashland and Birney, the town of Birney, East-Fork Hanging Woman Road to the Rosebud county line and Odell Creek Road to Ashland. Tribal resources were staged at the Birney Community Hall throughout the night to help fight the fire. By Saturday morning, due to backburning efforts, Birney residents were allowed to safely return home, according to the Northern Cheyenne Incident Command.

Steve Bourne

“If it had kept going and if the [fire fighters] hadn't been back, Birney itself as a town would not be there,” said Birney resident Laurel Fjell. "It's a rude awakening."

The Rosebud County Sheriff's Office posted on Facebook that the fire was being successfully managed by multiple crews throughout Saturday, but that people should still be on the lookout in the area for hazardous situations.

The Remington fire has affected rural communities and ranchers in the area. Many have seen a loss of land, fencing, structures, and livestock.

“It's kind of a regular thing. Every year we have at least one to two big giant fires that kind of spooks everybody. For the years that I've lived here, this is probably the worst one that I've seen," said Birney rancher Jacob Knoblock.

Those who live in the area are usually prepared to jump into action when fires occur. Knoblock said that he and his family have water tanks and sprayers on their trucks to help fight fires.

"We set up a plan to help start back burning over there to make sure it doesn't jump the road and go into our permits," said Knoblock.

Knoblock and his neighbors lost a significant amount of cattle initially but are still in the process of relocating them. He also said that while they are lucky the fire missed their house, they still lost almost 1,000 acres of land.

Isabel Spartz/MTN News

“Grazing land. That's kind of all that's really burned up. Our hay fields are okay, so that's always good, but just fencing. I have to go through and fix fences again,” said Knoblock.

Others in the town of Birney also attempted to fight the fire but were worried about the uncertainty and severity of the burn.

“I've been fighting fires for over 60 years here, and this is way the worst that I've ever seen,” said resident Butch Fjell.

For the Fjell family, the fire was dangerously close to their surrounding neighbors' houses in Birney. They came to help the backburning efforts near Hanging Woman Creek, but that situation turned into a close call when a tree exploded near them.

“I was in the crossfire. The heat was so enormous that it blistered my knees and my right hand has blisters on it and my ear," said Laurel Fjell. "To me, it was a close-to-death experience. I'd never ever experienced anything like that before.”

Fjell suffered major burns but was able to treat them. Her grandson, Grayson Fjell, witnessed the fire and jumped into action to make sure she was alright.

"I was in the fire truck on that tree blew up and she was outside and so I didn't know really what to do," said Grayson. “I burnt a little bit on my finger and my elbow because I tried to go out the door, but all that heat just on that metal was scorching hot. It was pretty scary for having her outside the pick-up."

Laurel Fjell

Lots in the community have come together to offer assistance and help. In Lame Deer, the Boys and Girls Club of the Northern Cheyenne Nation has been established as a shelter for those needing a safe place to go.

“Last night, we did have eight people here and we currently have a capacity of 20 but can expand quite quickly,” said Emma Harris, the Boys and Girls accountant.

The shelters were open to those evacuating from Ashland, as fire crews were worried the fire was heading in that direction. For now, the community is safe, but those pre-evacuation orders are still in effect.

“People are scheduled to be here all through the night in case that situation becomes a little bit more unsafe and people need to be evacuated," said Harris.

The fire has the potential to spread, but the assistance from many firefighters all over the area hopes to stop it.

“It has given me an enormous respect for all these firefighters that are risking their life every day and our local firefighters,” said Laurel.