A fast-moving wildfire, eight miles east of Polson, Montana, destroyed multiple homes on Flathead Lake overnight, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) fire information officer CT Camel said, as per NBC Montana reports. 

Camel added that the number – of houses destroyed – are in the teens, but possibly up to 20 on both sides of Highway 35 at mile marker 9. Nobody was hurt. 

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The Lake County Sheriff’s Office, around 1 AM,  put out an alert notifying people the Boulder 2700 Fire shifted and jumped Highway 35, heading toward the Finley Point area. The highway was closed, local media reported. 

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A notice asked the people of Lake County to be ready to evacuate as the spot fires were moving with strong winds. A notice at around 3:30 AM said the winds shifted out of the northeast, pushing the fire to jump Highway 35 around mile marker 10.

The fire was caused by humans, but is still under investigation, Camel said, as per NBC Montana reports. An evacuation center has been set up at Linderman Gym in Polson.

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Law enforcement asked residents on the  Skidoo Bay to leave afyer the fire started coming over the ridge. Officers were on a boat notifying residents over loudspeakers to evacuate, a resident said, as per NBC Montana. 

Power has been cut to the area as a precaution. The Finley Point/Yellow Bay Fire Department has asked people, who are evacuating, to put a sock on the doorknob and a pillowcase over the mailbox to let responders know the home is vacated.