As beams of light broke through rain clouds Sunday evening, smoke from a few hot spots on the Robertson Draw Fire were caught in the golden rays.

The cool weather and rainfall on the fire area helped to slow movement of the fire which started on the Wyoming-Montana border north of Clark. Overall conditions kept fire activity minimal and gave crews a chance to continue working on a contingency fire line and mopping up hot spots.

But while conditions have since improved, the fire raged amid last week’s hot, dry conditions. It grew from 40 acres on June 13 to 29,474 acres Monday. Eight homes and more than a dozen other structures have been lost.

Former Powell resident Terry Stevens was one of several cabin owners who lost everything when the fire plowed through the Gold and Ruby Creek drainages. His family cabin was turned to ashes as the fire moved through Gold Creek last week. 

“It breaks my heart the family cabin in the Beartooths is gone,” Stevens said. 

He was at the cabin just before the fire hit. For a while he thought it would be OK, but moments after evacuating he looked back and knew it was already gone.

“The wind came up and everything changed dramatically,” he recalled.

The cabin was in the family for about a quarter-century and was uninsured. On Monday, Stevens said it will be a while before they decide whether to rebuild, but with all the trees gone, he knows it will never be the same.

“It’s so ugly now. It was scorched,” he said. “At my age [62], I’ll probably never live to see the trees regrow.”

At a public meeting last week, Carbon County Sheriff Josh McQuillan said the Robertson Draw Fire was human-caused. A suspect has been identified in a joint investigation between Forest Service and the sheriff’s department officials, but the name of the suspect and the nature of the fire has yet to be released. There had been no charges filed as of last week, McQuillan said.

Evacuations for many areas have since been lifted, and about 45% of the fire has now been contained. However, Custer Gallatin National Forest District Ranger Ken Coffin warned Sunday night that it could be weeks before the fire is completely contained.

“There’s a lot of reasons to be optimistic,” Coffin said. “But we have a long way to go.”

Managers were happy for the relief for the day, but the weekly weather forecast calls for it to heat up again and any precipitation will bring lightning to the area as well, possibly igniting more fires.

“A little rain does not fix the problem,” said Tom Kuntz, Red Lodge Fire District chief. “We could be living with this fire for weeks, if not months.”

The risk of huge fires like the area saw last Tuesday has not gone away, Kuntz cautioned.

Hand-written signs of thanks for firefighters are popping up in the windows of Red Lodge businesses. The area, which relies on tourism for much of its summer revenue, was busy Sunday night. Despite the cool temperatures, diners took seats at outdoor tables and near picture windows facing Mount Maurice. There is a currently a dramatic line on the mountain, between green living trees and those still standing but looking like spent matches. Blackened earth, highlighted by the smoke of some hot spots, comes within hundreds of yards of other homes and structures.

In Bearcreek, Montana, the fire came within a few hundred yards of the small town. Sunday night, the famous pig races at the Bear Creek Saloon were heavily attended despite the town continuing to be under an evacuation warning.

Beartooth Pass is currently open and will only close if thick smoke makes visibility greatly reduced or there are firefighting operations near the road, Kuntz said.

Meanwhile, the Crooked Creek fire near Ft. Smith, Montana, in the Pryor Mountains grew to 5,400 acres by Sunday with about 20% containment. Crews also continue to fight fires outside Ten Sleep and Buffalo. Officials in Yellowstone National Park announced Monday that its fire danger had gone from “moderate” to “high.”