The scope of a manhunt for armed fugitive David Burgert expanded Monday, including a warning that he might be headed to the Kalispell area.

The manhunt entered its third day on Tuesday, although the ground search in the  Lolo area southwest of Missoula was scaled back.

Missoula County Undersheriff Mike Dominick says law enforcement agents continue to patrol a 50-square-mile area centered on the Lolo National Forest in the search for Burgert.

But Dominick said Tuesday that Burgert could have escaped the area in a 1987 Jeep Wagoneer that Burgert owns but authorities have been unable to find.

The Flathead County SWAT team was set Monday to help search for Burgert, 47, a convicted felon and former Flathead County resident who shot at Missoula County deputies Sunday near Lolo, but the Flathead team was ordered to stand down later in the day.

Flathead County Sheriff Chuck Curry said his counterparts in Missoula County had requested the SWAT team to help look for Burgert in the mountains west of Lolo. But the request was canceled Monday afternoon.

"They think they lost him," Curry said. "They do not necessarily think they have him contained in that area ... There is potential that he may have left the area in a 1987 Jeep Wagoneer."

Specifically, law enforcement has been looking for a red or tan 1987 Jeep Wagoneer with license plate number 4-26514A.

Burgert is described as 6 feet 2 inches tall and 230 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. He was last seen wearing a bluish colored shirt and a fanny pack and is believed to be armed with a handgun and possibly a rifle.

On Monday, tactical agents from the FBI and officers from the U.S. Marshal's Service, Missoula police, Missoula County Sheriff's Office, as well as law officers from the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and the Montana National Guard, were looking for Burgert in a rugged, sparsely populated area of Lolo National Forest west of Lolo.

A National Guard helicopter and a police dog were brought in to assist the searchers, totaling 65 personnel in all.

"Needless to say, we are going to be looking very diligently for him in our area," Curry said.

An officer safety warning was broadcast over Flathead County law enforcement radio channels, urging officers to use extreme caution if Burgert is encountered.

At about 2 p.m. Monday, a swarm of Kalispell Police and Flathead County Sheriff's vehicles descended on a vehicle on U.S. 93 near West Reserve Drive.

"They were stopping a vehicle that fit the description, but it was not him," Curry said.

Last week, Burgert was stopped by the Montana Highway Patrol for a moving violation. He told patrolmen then "he wasn't going to be taken down like last time" and that "it would take a SWAT team" to bring him in, Dominick said.

"He is extremely dangerous, and he's a danger to anyone he meets," Dominick said.

Burgert fired at Missoula County sheriff's deputies along a logging trail Sunday after leading them on a slow-speed chase near the town of Lolo on U.S. 12. The deputies returned fire - no one was hurt - before Burgert grabbed gear from the Jeep and fled on foot into the woods, Dominick said.

Burgert may have planned the attack, Dominick told The Associated Press on Monday. Authorities found ammunition packed inside the Jeep's engine compartment and in another vehicle associated with Burgert, as well as two stolen rifles and a magazine of handgun ammunition on the ground near where he fled, Dominick said.

"He was prepared for a confrontation," Dominick said. "It was not a high-speed chase, he drove purposely onto the logging road and he engaged the deputies with one to three shots."

Burgert served time in the Federal Bureau of Prisons on weapons charges before being released on probation last year. Before his sentencing, he was diagnosed with paranoid personality disorder.

Burgert has a long criminal history in Flathead County, where he is considered a threat to some law enforcement and local government officials, including Flathead County Commissioner Jim Dupont, who was sheriff when Burgert had run-ins with the law.

"Are we concerned that he could be coming here? Certainly," said Curry, who notified Dupont and a handful of other people about Burgert being a fugitive.

"There's a few people he didn't like very well and I'm sure he still doesn't," Curry said.

Curry noted that Burgert fled to an area of his choosing, with Missoula County deputies in pursuit, and that could give him an advantage in escaping.

"He could have had a vehicle stashed somewhere," said Curry, who noted that Burgert was known for hatching fairly elaborate plans. At one point when he was living in Flathead County, Burgert orchestrated the appearance of his own death.

His pickup truck and fishing gear were left at Presentine Bar on the Flathead River in January of 2002, but there was no sign of Burgert and a search was launched. In the days that followed, Burgert's wife accused law enforcement of killing her husband, but it was eventually discovered that Burgert had been camping in the woods north of Whitefish.

In February of that year, Burgert was located with a girlfriend west of Kalispell.

After a short chase, the woman was arrested but an overnight standoff ensued with Burgert. He surrendered the next day, and a large cache of weapons, ammunition and survival equipment was uncovered at the girlfriend's house.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.