A fast-moving fire that began Monday night southwest of Big Arm grew to more than 9,700 acres by Wednesday afternoon.

The Garceau Fire prompted the evacuation of 15 people from two homes in the Irvine Flats area, according to Devlin Lafrombois, a fire information officer for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes.

All those evacuated were allowed to return home as weather slowed fire activity on Wednesday.

The fire first was reported just before 6 p.m. Monday. It began on private land and then spread to tribal land.

The fire is burning 5 to 6 miles southwest of Big Arm and 5 to 6 miles northeast of Hot Springs, Lafrombois said.

Firefighters from the tribes and the Polson and Hot Springs rural fire districts, along with aerial resources, are battling the fire.

The aerial effort included two heavy helicopters, three heavy air tankers and two single-engine air tankers, Lafrombois said.

A total of 50 firefighters are involved in battling the Garceau Fire. Firefighting efforts are based at the Polson airport.

A Type 2 management team is expected to take over firefighting efforts today.

The fire began in grasslands and sagebrush and then moved into timber before burning back into grasslands.

The fire put out a substantial plume of smoke visible from across the Flathead Valley on Tuesday.