Rice Ridge Fire

The Rice Ridge Fire was a wildfire that burned northeast of Seeley Lake in the Lolo National Forest in Montana in the United States. The fire, which was started by a lightning strike on July 24, 2017, became a megafire on September 3, growing from 40,000 acres (162 km²) to over 100,000 acres (405 km²), at which time it became the nation’s top wildfire priority as of early September 2017. Located north and east of Seeley Lake, Montana, over 700 firefighting personnel were assigned to the blaze, primarily active in a mountainous lodgepole and mixed conifer forest. The fire had burned 155,900 acres (631 km²) and at one point threatened over 1,000 homes in Powell County and Missoula County including the town of Seeley Lake, Montana and areas north of Highway 200, east of Highway 83. Evacuation orders included parts of Powell County north of Montana Highway 200, areas east of Montana Highway 83, and evacuation warnings for other sections of the forest within Missoula County.