Five years ago Red Lodge was hit with the catastrophic Robertson Draw Fire which burned more than 20,000 acres and left a scar on Mt. Maurice that can still be seen and will be visible for decades to come. So residents are skittish when smoke starts rising from the mountainous terrain south and west of town.

The imaginatively-named East Side Fire (East of US 212) started April 20 when folks conducting a controlled burn forgot about the "controlled" part and it spread to the surrounding rough terrain. There were high winds later that day, but it did not turn into the full-blown conflagration of 2021. It was a battle for a few days, then five inches of snow fell and knocked the fire down. Acreage burned is set at 1,219, 4% of the size of the Robert Draw Fire.

But as of today, the fire is listed as only 70% contained with crews continuing to check for hot spots. There is no smoke visible.

April 20, the glow as seen from our house

April 21, lots of smoke

April 21

May 16, image taken from US 212 showing the burn areas,
the fire is not officially contained but no smoke is evident.