Updated Aug. 28, 10:10 p.m.
The Blackfeet Tribal Business Council issued an evacuation notice for the Heart Butte area Friday night as a fire in the Badger-Two Medicine region races towards the Blackfeet Indian Reservation.
The Spotted Eagle Fire is part of the Family Peak Complex and as of Friday morning had burned nearly 700 acres in the Lewis and Clark National Forest. A Type II management team took control of the Spotted Eagle and three other fires on the east side on Friday.
The fire appears to have blown up late Friday and shortly after 6 p.m. tribal officials issued an evacuation order for the Heart Butte area. Officials were recommending anyone in the area between Heart Butte and Palookaville Road, located southeast of East Glacier Park, to leave the area immediately. Shortly after 10 p.m., tribal officials said the Heart Butte Road south of Browning was closed due to fire activity.
“There is a wall of fire everywhere you look,” said Willie Sharp Jr., a former tribal council member who was in the Heart Butte area Friday night.
The American Red Cross has set up a shelter in Browning at 80 Heart Butte Road.
According to the 2010 census, nearly 600 people live in Heart Butte.
This story will be updated when more information becomes available.