Rifle Road Fire Gets Quick Response From Firefighters

Sunday morning at about 11 a.m., local firefighters were alerted to an explosion and subsequent fire at a residence and the surrounding timber on Rifle Road in the Bozeman Pass. The fire was reportedly the result of an exploding stove, although that was not confirmed in the press release from the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office. One person did receive minor injuries.

According to the sheriff's office, the Northern Rockies Type 2 Incident Management Team #5, which is in the county to assist on the Bridger Foothills Fire, responded to the call, along with local agencies. Two helicopters working with the Team used buckets to drop approximately 4,000 gallons of water to douse the fire's flames to keep it from spreading further into the timber. The fire severely  damaged one structure, but no other structures were damaged or lost.

A pre-evacuation notice was given to 30 homes in the area by local law enforcement. The houses were in the following areas: Rifle Road, Winchester Road, Colt Road, Goes Nowhere Road, High Ridge Road, Woodchuck Road, and areas of Trail Creek Road.

10 Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the fire along with other agencies, including: Fort Ellis, Hyalite, Bozeman, Central Valley, Gallatin Gateway and DNRC fire departments, as well as Gallatin County 911, Gallatin County Emergency Management, AMR, Park County Sheriff’s Office, Montana Highway Patrol and U.S. Forest Service law enforcement.

The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office released a statement on Sunday evening thanking all of the agencies involved in the quick, coordinated effort in responding to this incident.

While the loss of the residence is devastating to the owners, it is thanks to the rapid response that no one was significantly injured and no other properties were lost.

With the recent fires in Gallatin County, the sheriff's department would like to remind residents to get signed up for the Community Notification System.

The free registration allows you to receive timely information about emergencies in our area, such as wildfires, floods, law enforcement standoffs and more. The information can be localized to receive information pertaining to the areas of the county where you live, work or play. And it can be sent to you directly via text messages, phone calls, emails, and more.

To sign up for the Community Notification System, please visit alerts.readygallatin.com.