A small wildfire near just east of Homestake Pass closed I-90 eastbound for a time Sunday afternoon.
The fire was being fought by the U.S. Forest Service with help from the Butte-Silver Bow Fire Department and the Jefferson County Fire Department. A Butte-Silver Bow fire official said the department had two units at the fire, and said local volunteer departments also had responded.
The Forest Service deployed a tanker aircraft that dumped retardant on the fire, and two helicopters with buckets were also being employed, said Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest spokesperson Cat McRae.
"Firefighters have managed to stop the forward progress at the head of the fire," she said, but added that crews are also battling spot fires. The blaze, dubbed the Moose Fire, was estimated at 10-15 acres late Sunday afternoon. It was burning about a mile east of the I-90 Homestake exit.
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She said that Ranger Joe Sampson reported that one spot fire jumped I-90, but was quickly extinguished. Spot fires were occurring up to half a mile away from the main blaze, he said.
McRae said no structures were currently threatened — only "infrastructure related to the highway."Â
A woman who answered the phone at Homestake Lodge, 530 Upper Rader Creek Road, early Sunday evening said that the lodge was "not threatened at the moment."
"We appreciate all the efforts of the firefighters," she said.