a day ago
Hilger Valley Fire burning north of Helena
Smoke rises from the Hilger Valley Fire burning north of Helena (Jordan Hansen / Daily Montanan)
A new wildfire start was reported on Monday north of Helena and appeared to grow through the afternoon.
The Montana Department of Natural Resources posted shortly before 4 p.m. a fire start had been discovered north of Helena, calling it 20 acres as of 3:30 p.m. The Hilger Valley Fire is 20 miles north of Helena, east of Interstate 15 near the Gates of the Mountains exit.
Around 6 p.m. the fire's acreage jumped up to 300 acres on the incident's listing on WildCAD (Wilderness Computer-Aided Dispatch). The DNRC said on Facebook that a helicopter as well as state and local fire crews were being dispatched.
The cause was undetermined, the DNRC posted and, 'Additional resources are enroute or being ordered at this time.'
