A grass fire near Bootlegger Trail north of Great Falls threatened homes Sunday afternoon before firefighters and a quick-thinking neighbor worked together to contain the fire.
The fire burned roughly 3 to 4 acres, starting near a utility pole and racing toward a steep ravine. Several telephone poles and a shed were damaged in the fire.
Steve Bordner, who lives just above the burn area, spotted the flames early and took action with whatever tools he could find.
"And that was the only fire by the pole when I got there. Nothing else was on fire. Just that pole. One of these fence posts that were there, there is no barbed wire connected to it. I started going like this, put it to put the flames out coming this way. It started at that telephone pole," Bordner said.
When fire crews couldn't reach part of the steep hillside with their trucks, Bordner continued working to slow the fire's spread down into the ravine.
"They couldn't get the fire truck down there. So I took that fence post, boom like this, and pulled out of it and went down in that ravine. And once it would have gotten that ravine, it would have burned all the way a mile. That way would have burned everything," Bordner said.
The Black Eagle Volunteer Fire Department was first on scene. Vaughn, San Coulee, Sun Prairie, Malmstrom and MT ANG crews also assisted in containing the fire. No injuries were reported.
