Local Crow fire crewmembers dominate Pryor Creek Fire

Pryor Creek grasses by BIA Forestry & Wildland Fire Management Crow Agency

UPDATE, AUG. 31:

The Pryor Creek Road Fire shifted east more than a mile Wednesday afternoon, the BIA Crow Agency fire management said in a release.

Fire activity by Wednesday afternoon was extreme the second day.

There was not a lot of fire activity Wednesday morning with remaining heat hiding in mild weather with a fire mapping sizing it as 2,372 acres at 1 p.m.

However, the fire has grown since then with winds blowing more than 50 miles-per-hour over hidden embers, pushing it east more than a mile toward unpopulated ranchland in short grass.

"Both BIA engines from Pryor are working the firelines and providing local knowledge to the assembled firefighters. A water tender from Red Lodge Fire is enroute to join teams at the fire. Drivers from Crow Agency carried Billings restaurant hot meals to the 67 firefighters Wednesday night to give them a break from the prepackaged MREs typically eaten on remote assignments," BIA Crow Agency said in the release.

The Bureau of Indian affairs sent the most recent update out via a facebook post at 7:09PM.

YELLOWSTONE County - The Pryor Creek Road fire, a large grass fire in southern Yellowstone County, is flaring in 34 mph gusts, 12% rH, Tuesday night.

The fire is believed to be human-caused, as farmers harvest dryland grains on location. It started around 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday, August 29, on the dry farmed flats east of Pryor Creek Road, four miles northeast of Pryor, according to the release by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

The fire was showing "extreme fire behavior," southeast of the junction of Pryor Creek Road and Blue Creek Road Tuesday afternoon. Two single engine air tankers returning from Billings are assisting the BIA light helicopter from Crow Agency and a medium helicopter from Montana DNRC sent to slow the fire.

A Yellowstone County Sheriff’s deputy has advised looky-loos on the pavement to avoid the entire fire area, as the fire is likely to approach Pryor Creek Road. The Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office is going door to door suggesting evacuation for a few nearby homeowners.

With the dry cold frontal passage Tuesday night, winds should shift clockwise to blow from the west, then from the northwest by morning, driving the fire away from the inhabited valley of Pryor Creek.

"The first engine on scene reported it at 100 acres," according to the release. "The initial Incident Commander Jayson Bearcrane had a light and two medium BIA engines, Big Horn County Rural Fire, Lockwood Fire and Bureau of Land Management engines on scene as well as air attack overhead: a propeller plane to help coordinate aerial operations."

At 5 PM engines were preparing to defend an unoccupied home under construction, and construction workers evacuated the area. A bulldozer, five more engines and water tenders were on their way to help secure the rear of the fire.

Taig O’Donnell of the BLM, who is credentialed as a “Type 3 IC” to manage a busy larger fire such as this is Incident Commander.

YELLOWSTONE County - A large grass fire is burning in southern Yellowstone County, just north of Pryor.

The state's fire information website says the fire was discovered around 1pm Tuesday afternoon, and is estimated to be about 100 acres right now.

We are working to learn more.

This is a developing story, check back for updates.

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