Mountain Lion Cubs Rescued from Fire

Firefighters working the Three Mile fire near Florence made a surprising discovery on Friday, saving a pair of mountain lion cubs that were trapped in the fast-moving blaze.

Bitterroot National Forest spokesman Tod McKay reported that a crew was digging a line around the fire on initial attack when they heard noises coming from under a log that was on fire.

They couldn’t get close enough to tell what it was, so called in a firefighting helicopter, which dropped 600 gallons of water on the log.

After the fire was out, two mountain lion cubs came out from under the log and were scooped up by firefighters, McKay said. The crew dried off the soggy, blackened babies and called in wardens from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, who took over their care.

“They were only one to two weeks old, barely had their eyes open,” McKay said.

He said he didn’t know what would happen to the cubs now. Crews did not see any other mountain lion activity in the area.

The Three Mile fire, first seen Friday around 3 p.m., is burning on the Three Mile Game Range, about nine miles east of Florence in the Sapphire Mountains.

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