An excavator was used to haul the burning straw away from the highway to nearby Flathead County property so crews could put out the fires.

Bigfork and Creston fire departments responded to a straw fire on Montana 35 near McCaffery Road late Friday morning. The driver hauling straw noticed the fire on his 30-foot trailer while driving southbound on the highway, so he pulled over to unhitch the trailer. Traffic in both directions was halted while crews worked to extinguish the burning bales of straw.