The Granite County Sheriff’s Office ordered residents of Frogpond Basin to evacuate Thursday morning as the Moose Fire continued to burn roughly 24 miles southwest of Philipsburg. The order went into effect at 11 a.m. on August 6, with deputies conducting door-to-door notifications to ensure residents received the warning directly.

Residents were directed to leave the area immediately. The Moose Fire’s proximity to the basin prompted the emergency action, though no additional size or containment figures were available at the time of the order.

Alongside the evacuation, the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest put in place a series of road and trail closures in the affected area. Closed roads include Frog Pond Road #80, Forest Service Road #5107 in Green Canyon, Forest Service Road #70 along Ross Fork, and Forest Service Road #5060 in the Beaver Creek area.

Trail closures cover portions of the Ross Fork Trail (#8019) and the Whetstone Ridge Trail (#8020), the entirety of the South Fork Trail (#8162), and Trail #313.

The closures are intended to keep the public out of the active fire zone and allow crews to work safely. Granite County sits in western Montana, and the Frogpond Basin area borders national forest land that has seen heightened wildfire activity this season.

Residents and outdoor recreationists in the region are advised to monitor updates from the sheriff’s office and the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest before traveling near the affected roads and trails. Those with interests in nearby public lands may also want to follow the proposed Flint Creek Tungsten Exploration Project, which has a public comment period open through August 14 in the same general region of western Montana.