The 15,000 acre Lolo Peak Fire is quickly outgrowing law enforcement’s ability to secure the estimated 600 homes now evacuated along the Highway 93 and Highway 12 corridors.
Fire officials have now turned to the Montana National Guard for help.
Missoula County’s Emergency Management Director, Adriane Beck says they’d be, "essentially manning roadblocks, denying entry to anyone not allowed to be in those areas; primarily from a security standpoint for the homes, but then also to keep people out of a potentially hazardous situation."
The Lolo Peak Fire incident management team requested help from the Guard this week.
Governor Steve Bullock in July – and again last week – declared a fire emergency proclamation that frees up the National Guard to help with just such a crisis.
The Guard was deployed in Missoula County under very similar circumstances back in 2013 when the Lolo Complex of fires burned along Highway 12.
(An earlier version of this story stated the Missoula County Commission was planning to ask for assitance from the National Guard, which was incorrect. We regret the error)
