Broadus Volunteer Fire Department

Home
United States
Broadus, MT
Broadus Volunteer Fire Department

Call Directions Website Contact the organization

Broadus Volunteer Fire Department Public Page

09/14/2026

9-14-26
We are getting calls on folks smelling and seeing smoke on otter creek and the south of powder river county. The lookout tower can see smoke coming off the davis coulee fire near crow agency coming across those areas. Thanks for the vigilance.

09/12/2026

9-12-26
Guess what. Big surprise. The winds stirred up another coal seam resulting in the 3 buffalo fire yesterday afternoon. BVFD and ranch rigs helped the USWFS catch this one at 35 acres. It was left in good hands as the Fort Howes folks camped on it overnight.
Higher humidities and cooler days will help slow these fire starts for a while but unless we get a little green up or a good soaking or snow, the 1 hour and 1000 hour fuels will be susceptible to burning on breezy or warm days, especially in the burning coal seam country.

09/11/2026

9-11-26
The 505 acre Beaver Creek Fire started by a burning coal seam has a lot of interesting topics to discuss.
The heat from the fire was detected by thermal satellites between 3 and 4 am on 9-10 and ai recognized the threat and sent a warning. We started calling around to get people mobilized and checking on the fire. Once confirmed we called Miles City dispatch to see about getting federal and state fire crews mobilized. Calls started coming in from people 30 miles away who could see the glow and we toned out the fire through our local dispatch to get BVFD crews rolling. We woke up the forest FMO and AFMO to make them aware of the fire and to obtain permission to use our dozer for ia on federal lands. The Fort Howes USWFS crews were notified as well. A lot of people had their dreams interrupted. Custer County autolaunched crews for mutual aid.
Folks have been wondering how so many different agencies and crews show up at these fires and its because we ask for help. Once school starts, seasonal fire crews shut down and we lose people off our crew to college. People leave town for school events like sports. Cattle work starts in full force and most of our crew is involved in the cattle industry. People are tied up guiding hunters or hunting themselves. Its unusual to have such an early morning fire. Many on our crew try to have their work done early to be available in the afternoons when fires typically start. We knew we would be shorthanded in the morning so we started the ball rolling early asking for help. Everybody is short handed and it takes coordination amongst all our agencies and neighbors to make it work. Thanks everybody for the help.
It was 39° out and the fire had 4' flames. It is dry out there! Weve known for years about the coal seam that started the fire. It used to be visible glowing in the bank from the county road but it hasnt been active for years. Our thermal drones couldnt detect heat off it 4 yrs ago. Weve seen multiple fire starts this year from coal seams that were ignited by the 2012 fires and have remained innactive or undetected since. CM Thermal and Fire has mapped most of SE Montana for coal seams but they have erratic patterns of activity so we always appreciate any gps locations of seams you know of even if they havent been active for years and new ones or previously undetected ones keep flaring up. Last year, one that was believed to have gone out 23yrs ago flared back up. Keeping the firebreaks around them fresh is important even if they seem cold.
Its a slow process but efforts are being made to mitigate burning coal seams so its important we know where they all are.
The Beaver Creek fire has been lined, forward progress stopped and full containment and mopup should be obtained fairly quickly.

09/08/2026

9-7-26
Another burning coal seam started a fire today. One of our coop rigs and area ranchers had it handled before our main crew could get there. They will be monitoring it for the next few days. These warm breezy days really stir up the coal seam fires.

09/01/2026

8-31-26
As expected, a couple holdover fires from yesterdays lightning started today.
The first was the 59 spring creek fire in brush, slough grass and cottonwood trees along the Little Powder River. Several ranchers helped us get it stopped at 8 acres. Interior burning will put up smoke for several days.
The second fire was a pine forest fire just into Carter County in very rugged terrain. Alzada Fire, Belle Creek Fire, DNRC, landowners and USWFS all joined forces with us to corral the Espy fire at 30 acres.

08/31/2026

8-30-26
So far, we've had one lightning strike fire show up from all the bolts that struck this afternoon. The lightning was accompanied by minor amounts of rain and we suspect we'll see a few sleeper fires stand up after the moisture dries tomorrow afternoon so keep your eyes on the horizons for columns so we can catch them small. This one was found by BVFD coop truck operator Hughe Fulton.

08/21/2026

9-20-26
BVFD spent yesterday afternoon and today on the lightning caused 10 acre Ten fire in the USFS and private forest off 15 mile road. Deep duff made management difficult. Areas that were knocked down with engines and water last night sprang back to life today and burnouts, handlining, bonepiling and cutting down snag trees was conducted to reduce fuels up to dozer lines. USWFS, USFS and landowners were all involved suppressing the fire. While searching for the origin lightning tree, we investigated an uncontained unattended recent campfire and even though we dont think it caused the fire, it certainly was inappropriately extinguished and certainly could have caused a fire. Not cool.

08/05/2026

8-4-26
Todays adventure had BVFD and USWFS climbing up to the rugged 12 acre hilltop Lyons fire. These are all skills fires involving a bit of engine work, lots of hiking and packing equipment, chainsaw work, some leafblower and flapper work, lots of handlining, burning out, followed by cold-trailing and bone-piling. The folks doing this daily for a living deserve a big shout-out and respect, its not for the faint of heart!

Address

PO Box 516
Broadus, MT
59317

Telephone

+14064362259

Website

https://prco.mt.gov/Fire-Department

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Broadus Volunteer Fire Department posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Broadus Volunteer Fire Department:

Want your organization to be the top-listed non profit organization in Broadus?