As crews gain ground on the Knowles Fire in Sanders County, questions remain about how the nearly 4,000-acre blaze started, with some residents pointing fingers at the nearby railroad.

The fire had scorched 3,822 acres since it sparked on Aug. 17, about 6 miles east of Paradise. Fire personnel had contained 47% of the fire as of Friday and expected to approach full containment by Sunday. 

No large structures or primary residences have been destroyed in the fire, according to officials, although the blaze did damage other valuable property. A video posted on YouTube shows small flames blooming next to railroad tracks. 

“The tracks across from our place are on fire,” notes Ken Nelson in the video, as he pans the camera across the railway tracks along the Clark Fork of the Flathead River outside Paradise. “Nope, I called 911. 911 called the train people. Clearly, the railroad ties are on fire.” 

The video description states that four separate fires started along the tracks at about 3:06 p.m. Nelson snapped pictures as the flames spread into neighboring fields and licked up the mountainside. Within a few hours, the fire had spread to the crest of the mountains. 

Officials confirmed the fire started along the Clark Fork, but the cause is still under investigation.  

“We’re looking at all causes,” said Amanda Sassi, a public information officer for the fire. 

The Kookoosint Fishing Access Site was reopened for public use, and the pre-evacuation status for McLaughlin Creek was lifted due to the reduced threat of the fire. Crews were mopping up through a combined use of wet and dry techniques due to limited water supply, and fire personnel continued to monitor the east and south flanks. 

TWO YEARS ago, the River Road East Fire erupted in Sanders County near Paradise, sparking a class action lawsuit between nearly two dozen property owners and Montana Rail Link and BNSF Railway.  

The blaze scorched 17,310 acres and destroyed 13 to 15 primary residences, plus 55 additional structures, according to court documents. Plaintiffs believe the fire was started by a railcar. 

Attorney Teague Westrope told the Daily Inter Lake in an email that one of the plaintiffs had as much as 80-90% of their 200 forested acres destroyed in the Knowles Fire.  

“From social media postings we have seen, there appears to have been eyewitnesses to a BNSF train causing the Knowles Fire,” Westrope said in the email. “It's troubling that just a day shy of the second anniversary of the Paradise fire, the people of Paradise had to endure another threat of a train-related fire.” 

The cause of the River Road East Fire is still under investigation, according to officials. 

Reporter Hannah Shields can be reached at 758-4439 or [email protected]. Reporter Haily Smalley contributed to this article.