Firefighters react quickly to blazes
In a smoky haze Saturday, a Forest Service helicopter drops a load of water on a fire that broke out in a slash pile on a forested hillside off Enders Road just south of Libby.
Firefighters quickly put down two blazes in rural areas near Libby on Saturday and Monday before they were able to flare up significantly.
Fire officials suspect arson in the Saturday evening fire on a tree-covered hillside at the end of Enders Drive.
"I think it was intentionally lit but we don't know by whom and with what," said Libby Volunteer Fire Department assistant chief Steve Lauer.
The 6:20 p.m. blaze began in a large slash pile and ran about 50 feet up the grassy hillside to the edge of some trees. Thirteen members of the Libby department responded with one water tender used at the fire site and two others waiting in support below the hill.
A U.S. Forest Service tender and bulldozer responded, too, as well as two helicopters with buckets and a spotter plane.
The property is owned by the Enders family, with Tim Enders identified as caretaker.
On Monday, the Libby Volunteer Fire Department extinguished a fire that broke out in a sawdust pile on private land on East Fifth Street Extension. Fire chief Tom Wood said the property owner had burned some debris at the site a few weeks ago, and it may have continued to smolder.
The fire spread to some logs stacked nearby, but covered no more than a quarter-acre, Wood said. A Forest Service truck also responded to the 2 p.m. alarm.