Karole Lee of Clancy had just fixed herself a cocktail and settled down on her deck to do some bird watching when she heard a “whoosh” and some cracking, snapping and popping sounds.
Lee looked across the road and saw a cloud of billowing smoke.
“It was crazy,” Lee said, “It was just right here, it was right across the street.”
The smoke was from what is now known as the Lump Gulch fire, which continues to burn an area about 1,100 acres west of Clancy. Lee said she called it into the Jefferson County dispatch center at about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Lee was initially worried about her neighbors, who were closer to the fire. She frantically called as many as she could to warn them of the fire. It was not easily visible due to high winds blowing towers of billowing smoke in the other direction, according to Lee. After calling in the fire and warning her neighbors, she was next worried about her three cats and other belongings. She put some of her things and her cats into her car in case she was evacuated.
Firefighters were quick to get up to the fire, according to Lee.
The heavy winds on Saturday eventually let up and the rain on Sunday helped keep the fire from getting any closer to the houses, she said. She was able to watch the fire from her house and listen to the latest developments with a scanner.
“I just stood on my deck and watched it,” Lee said, “I had nothing better to do.”
Ultimately, Lee was not evacuated, the wind let up and it rained, helping aid the response. She said she is very impressed with the firefighters response to the fire.
Clancy Volunteer Fire Chief Bert Obert said that they are currently providing water for the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation fire crews currently working on the fire. He said the DNRC type III teams took over the fire Sunday night.
Montana City Fire Chief Lyn Stimpson said squad 3852 responded initially and helped Clancy with evacuations and fire suppression.
While this was going on, Montana City was also called to a car fire in the Elkhorns, said Stimpson.
Stimpson said he was proud of his department.
“To have eight members and all our chief officers working the Lump Gulch Fire and still be able to send out six additional members to handle another serious call without pulling any from the first call is phenomenal,” said Stimpson.
