Believe it or not, a forest / wildfire ignited last night north of Livingston and was fanned to a major burn within hours.  Here’s part of Scott McMillion’s story posted in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle today…..

LIVINGSTON - Hurricane force winds pushed a wildfire east of the Crazy Mountains to an estimated 10,000 acres Monday evening at a time of year when below zero temperatures are more common than infernos.

“We’re giving a conservative estimate of over 10,000 acres,” said Gallatin National Forest spokeswoman Marna Daley, but she stressed that is only an estimate. The fire was first reported at 5:30 p.m. about 18 miles north of Big Timber and had scorched a wide swath just three hours later, pushed by winds estimated at 80 mph.

The source of ignition for the Chichi fire is unknown, Daley said.

“We think it started on Forest Service land but the majority of it is on private land,” she said. “It’s moving so quickly it’s hard to pinpoint.”

The fire was still hot enough at 9 p.m. that its glow could be seen from Livingston, more than 35 miles away….

…In Livingston, 85 mph gusts forced the closure of Interstate 90 between the town’s eastern and western exits, and routed long lines of heavy trucks through town for much of the afternoon and evening.

It’s snowing here in Bozman this morning and has been since around 0530, hopefully this weather is widespread in central Montana and that should help….

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