MARION - Additional fire crews have been brought in to assist with the Lemonade Fire burning west of Kalispell.
A Type 2 Northern Rockies Incident Management Team took over command on Monday with 173 people now working the fire.
Lemonade Fire Public Information Officer Ivy Gehling said heavy support from the air and ground is helping firefighters secure fire lines around the over 550-acre fire.
“We’ve been making good progress with heavy equipment and crews on the ground as well as aircraft supporting the incident, they’ve had helicopters dropping water as well as fixed-wing aircraft that can also drop water on the fire," said Gehling.
Gehling said the fire is burning in a remote area 21 miles west of Kalispell with no evacuation orders in place expect for one residence under a pre-evacuation notice.
“It’s really not burning toward structures right now, it’s kind of burning away from that direction with the winds from the west here predominantly,” added Gehling.
She said calm winds in the forecast is a good sing moving forward as firefighters work to knock down the fire.
“We’re taking a real direct attack on this and full suppression so we’re hoping to get it wrapped up as soon as possible.”
