Missing Firefighter Found OK at Montana Wildfire

July 29, 2014
He was found a day after he went missing from his crew.

The wildland firefighter who went missing Sunday while conducting mop up operations at a Montana fire was found Monday afternoon.

The Missoulian reported that the firefighter was found by searchers walking along a remote U.S. Forest Service Road several miles from where his crew last saw him.

Bitterroot National Forest spokesman Tod McKay said he was taken to Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital for evaluation.

“He was going in with the rest of the crew and got separated,” McKay told the Missoulian. “Apparently, he was lagging behind. The incident commander went back and the (missing man) told him ‘I’m having problems with my boot, I’ll catch up.’ So the incident commander went and caught up with the rest of the crew. They thought he would arrive and he never did. They worked for a few minutes, realized he wasn’t as close behind as they thought and went back to look for him. They had a little bit of radio contact with him, but never could locate him. They looked for more than an hour and let dispatch know.”

Over 50 searchers on the ground and using aircraft were out looking for the man, who was part of an eight-person hand crew working The Weasel Fire.

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