As the fire department continued to fight the wind-driven fire, dozens of houses and four historic grain elevators were burned down

First published on Thursday, December 2, 2021 at 12.53 EST

A late wildfire occurred in unusually warm weather. Strong winds swept through a small agricultural town in central Montana overnight, burning down 24 houses and 4 grain elevators that had been in operation for more than a century.

On Thursday morning, officials were assessing Denton’s loss, while staff continued to put out the fire.

“Rural fire protection agencies are continuing their efforts to prevent any further spread or damage,” Fergus County Sheriff’s Office posted on Facebook on Thursday morning. "This work will continue for a few more days."

Early Wednesday afternoon, about 300 residents of the town were evacuated when a fire a few miles away the night before swept through dry farmland.

"It's a pity that we lost a lot of houses in the south of the town. Fortunately, no one was injured!" The sheriff's office announced on Wednesday night.

Officials said that the power outage caused by the collapse of the power line shut off the water pump, causing the town to lose water.

There have been other fires in Montana in recent days, as gusts of wind have contributed to the flames under drought and unusually warm temperatures.

According to the National Weather Service, the Montana area east of the Continental Divide has been slanted downward by westerly winds for about a week. Cody Moldan, a meteorologist in Great Falls, said that under the influence of this type of wind, as the air moves down the slopes of the Rocky Mountains, the air will warm up and the wind speed will increase.

According to the United States Drought Monitoring Agency, central Montana is one of several areas in the state experiencing abnormal drought.

On Wednesday, there were several fires in Montana, and strong winds fueled the flames. A fire south of Great Falls destroyed 11 houses and 7 garages, as well as sheds and vehicles. Cascade County officials said about 65 people were evacuated.

Officials said there were two grass fires near Browning on Wednesday, where there was also a blackout due to strong winds blowing trees onto electrical wires.

In the past few decades, the fire season in the western mountains ended in the months before the winter storm, usually in August or September. But the climate crisis has brought hotter days and drier landscapes, and the risk extends to a deeper year. On Wednesday, record high temperatures in the 1960s and 1970s were reported around Montana.

At the same time, historic droughts and recent heat waves related to the climate crisis have made wildfires more difficult to extinguish and more dangerous. Scientists say that the area has become warmer and drier in the past 30 years, which will continue to make the weather more extreme and wildfires more frequent and destructive.

Expect Thursday to be the last truly warm and windy day, Moldan said. He said that a weaker cold front is expected to enter northern Montana on Friday, and a stronger cold front will appear on Saturday afternoon, which will bring wind but also some precipitation.