Firefighters have been battling more than 70 active fires across Montana.
Several small fires started in Laurel.
In Carbon County, the Smucker fire started on the southwest side of Mount Maurice.
The U.S. Forest Service quickly put out that fire from the ground and the air.
Firefighters plan on staying on the scene overnight to make sure it doesn't flare up.
Helicopters dropped water on the fire, and some who saw the smoke, say it was a small fire.
Many in Red Lodge did not know there was a fire because of the smoke blowing into the area from big fires in the west.
“We were camping up at Parkside when just all of a sudden it got really smoky and smelly,” said Janet Gale. “And the sun really took a turn the color and was like, oh, that's different and odd.
Gale says she did not see the fire.
“Just really smelled it,” Gale said. “And just the color of the sun.”
She came up to the airport to look toward Mount Maurice.
The nearly 30,000 acres burned in the Robertson Draw fire in 2021 raised her curiosity about this fire.
“Collected all the important papers,” Gale said about the '21 fire.
Gale does not get too excited until she hears from fire officials.
“You have to just keep a clear head and just do, as you're told,” Gale said. “If they really want you to evacuate, then you leave.”
“Certainly it was not like the fire that we had, three years ago, the Robertson Draw fire,” said Amy Hyfield, Red Lodge Fire Rescue public information officer and volunteer coordinator.
Hyfield says the U.S. Forest Service is keeping a close watch, not wanting it to become something big.
“The pictures that I've seen, it kind of looks like a little bit of a campfire,” Hyfield said. “But with how remote it is up there and how hard it would be to get to it, we definitely want to treat it seriossly and try and extinguish it as soon as possible.”
She says the terrain is treacherous, so helicopters have been transporting the firefighters.
“If you've ever hiked up the Maurice Creek trail or gotten up to the plateau, it takes a little while,” Hyfield said. “It's a lot of work.”
Three years ago, the crews and the conditions kept the fire away from Red Lodge.
“We still had a long way to go to get to town,” Gale said.
“Ultimately, we're doing this for people and for the resources that we have in Red Lodge,” Hyfield said about the work of the firefighters.
