An unseasonable wildfire driven by strong winds prompted an evacuation of a ski lodge in southern Montana . The blaze a few miles west of the community of Red Lodge had grown to 700 acres by Saturday night , US Forest Service spokesman Jeff Gildehaus said . The fire was first reported on open private land around 12.30pm , but it was driven by winds gusting 35 to 50 mph into the Custer National Forest , where the Red Lodge Mountain Resort ski area is located . It was zero per cent contained as of early Saturday night . A wildfire near the Red Lodge Mountain Resort ski area in southern Montana had grown to 700 acres after being reported at 200 acres earlier on Saturday . Thirteen engines and two fire attack crews had been deployed , according to KTVQ . 'There 's snow between the ski area and the fire and the timber . But it 's also a solid run of timber from where the fire is to the ski area , ' Gildehaus said . 'So it gets up in the trees and starts running the crowns of the trees and it starts advancing toward the ski area . ' He said that the decision to evacuate the Red Lodge ski area was made about 2:30 p.m. Saturday as a precautionary move and because there was just one road for firefighters and skiers to use . The evacuations have since been lifted , and Gildehaus said people were free to return to the ski area . He said the winds had eased somewhat and were expected to continue that course through the night . Gildehaus was n't sure how many people had been evacuated , but he estimated about 500 . The resort posted on its Facebook page that guests were safe and being escorted down the mountain by law enforcement . Red Lodge Mountain Resort ski area had an evacuation order on Saturday that was lifted . The US Forest Service said that no structures had been damaged in the blaze thus far ( file photo ) It plans on being open Sunday . The fire burned around rural homes , but no structures were damaged , Gildehaus said . With still no containment by Saturday night , the blaze had more than tripled from the 200 acres reported earlier in the day . Wildfires in the area at this time of year are unusual , he said . 'But down in the low elevation , there is n't any snow and things are pretty dry , ' Gildehaus said . 'We have n't really had any green-up yet where grasses turn green . We got all the dry grass from last year , and things are pretty dry . ' The fire actually started on Wednesday after a subdivision 's controlled burn , according to the Billings Gazette . Red Lodge Fire Chief Tom Kuntz said that the blaze 'would have been a major fire in the summer , ' A rain shower helped firefighters , but Kuntz said that several days would be required to deal with the fire . Traffic on state highways was diverted on Saturday . Other wildfires were reported elsewhere Saturday in Montana and northern Wyoming , leading to the evacuation of a subdivision . The southwestern portion of Montana and northern part of Wyoming are filled by a forest that stretches south to Shoshone and Yellowstone national parks .
Blaze at Custer National Forest grew from 200 acres earlier on Saturday . Evacuation order given at Red Lodge Mountain in Montana later lifted . Fire zero was per cent contained as of early Saturday night . Subdivision 's controlled burn on Wednesday began the fire .