Dozens battle large wildfire in Lincoln Co.

There are many better ways to spend Mother’s Day, but for area and regional firefighters, several dozen spent it working a wild land fire in the Wolf Prairie area in southeast Lincoln County.

Fire officials said dry and windy conditions apparently allowed a slow simmering fire to grow quickly Friday and Saturday.

The Lower Weigel Fire was listed at 102 acres Sunday morning. It is located a little more than one mile above the Fairview Ranger Station. Last year, the China Mountain Fire reached about 213 acres before rain and helicopter water drops tamed the biggest wildland fire in the county.

The fire was reported Friday morning. Friday evening, the blaze had grown to 60 acres and Saturday to 102. It was all on Southern Pine Plantation land, formerly owned by Plum Creek.

Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Fire Management Officer Kelly May said the size of the fire this early in the season led officials to seek help outside the area.

“We have one Type I crew from the Forest Service working with a state DNRC crew, a 10-man crew from the Montana State Prison as well as the Fisher River Valley Fire Rescue and others,” May said.

The federal crew - Bitterroot Hot Shots - came from Darby.

The fire crew also had two bulldozers, two water tenders and five engine trucks on the scene. Two helicopters dumped water on the fire Saturday.

Crews got a line around the fire and laid quite a bit of hose, too.

Officials said no structures were damaged and there were no reportable injuries.

Some rain that fell Saturday night across the region helped as well as larger deluge early Sunday evening. But along with rain, Sunday’s front also produced a number of lightning strikes, so time will tell if any of those become fires.

The cause was not known and officials are still attempting to find the fire’s source.

“It (the fire) never stood up and ran, so we were fortunate there,” May said. “But if it had been August, we could’ve been in trouble.”

May also said the pile or slash burning has been suspended until conditions warrant a change.

“For those who activate their burn permits online, we deactivated it,” May said. “The conditions aren’t good and we’re dealing with not having enough resources to fight these fires.”

May said many fire crews are still training and having such a large fire in May is not normal in the region.

Crews are also working two other fires in Western Montana.

The 75-acre Big Creek Fire west of Stevensville was reported Wednesday, May 7.

Taxing even more firefighting resources is the 2,020-acre Sawlog Fire, 15 miles northeast of Wisdom, Beaverhead County.

Nearly 200 firefighters were on that fire, which began May 1.

    A few tendrils of fire at the scene of the Lower Weigel Fire in Lincoln County. It has burned more than 100 acres since it was reported the morning of Friday, May 9, 2025. (Scott Shindledecker/The Western News)