MISSOULA – Cooler temperatures early Thursday have helped slow the spread of a 300-acre wildfire on Mount Sentinel near the University of Montana.
The fire started at the base of the mountain behind the university’s married student housing complex on Wednesday evening. Fire Chief Tom Steenberg the fire was apparently started by two children who may have been playing with matches or fireworks.
A state helicopter was called in to drop water on the fire. City firefighters, state wildland firefighters and U.S. Forest Service smokejumpers dug fireline and doused the flames.