HYSHAM — It was a full-on air show at the Busman Road fire just west of Hysham Friday. Two heavy air tankers, two single engines, a Chinook helicopter, and a smaller helicopter were helping ground support to get the fire under control.
"It's been a challenge to get out of it, but we got some rain last night and humidity is up and crews are out there doing some good work," says Rich Cowger, the incident commander.
Big progress was made Friday on the fire northwest of Hysham. The fire started Thursday and quickly took off, growing to almost 13,000 acres.
Homes were evacuated as the flames raced across fields and even into timber.
Fire crews have been working tirelessly to put the flames out.
"It blew up in size, so we needed to call in for mutual aid from neighboring counties and DNRC. We had one road that was evacuated," said Nicole Stephenson, disaster and emergency services coordinator for Treasure County.
Evacuated families were were able to return to their homes Friday, although the fire continues to burn and is only 15 percent contained.
Fire crews have been out all day making trips to douse the flames and those crews are growing in numbers; 156 firefighters are battling the blaze.
"We will still have some challenges we do have some moisture coming in, but that doesn't mean this fire is done," Cowger said.
For the latest updates on the fire, click here for the Montana state fire map.
