Four separate fires burning in Park County have charred a total of more than 17,000 acres during the past two weeks and one of the fires is burning 25 miles southwest of the Derby fire in Sweet Grass and Stillwater counties.

n The Jungle fire, which was reported Wednesday evening and likely caused by lightning, is burning in steep, rugged terrain with heavy fuel and no safety zones or escape routes for firefighters, fire information officer Kimberly Schlenker said on Saturday. No structures are immediately threatened, but Park County Disaster and Emergency Services issued a pre-evacuation warning to homeowners living along the mouth of the West Boulder drainage.

The fire is burning slowly and moving to the south. It has burned 700 acres about 10 miles south of the West Boulder Campground, 15 miles southeast of Livingston.

A Type II incident team took over firefighting efforts at noon on Saturday.

Pat Cross, spokesman for the incident management team, said helicopters have been requested to help fight the fire because it is difficult and dangerous to fight by land.

"We're getting helicopters coming in and resources are on order, but we're stretched pretty thin," Cross said. "Helicopters from the Derby fire have been able to make water drops on this fire, but the priority remains with the Derby fire."

n Additional firefighters were assigned Saturday to battle the three fires that make up the Paradise Valley Complex. At least 134 firefighters and four helicopters have been dispatched to the area south of Livingston. The largest of the three Paradise Valley fires, the Big Creek fire, reached 80 percent containment Saturday after burning 13,100 acres during the last three weeks in the Gallatin Mountains 10 miles west of Emigrant.

n The Passage Falls fire burned another 1,000 acres Saturday, bringing the total to 4,000 acres. It is still uncontained and burning 15 miles southwest of Emigrant.

n The South Pine Creek fire burned 800 acres about five miles southeast of Pine Creek until it was fully contained on Saturday, public information officer Maridel Merritt said.

The Big Timber Ranger District south of I-90 continues to be closed to the public. Other area closures include: West Pine Creek Road to the Mill Ford of Hyalite Trail; the upper Mill Creek watersheds east of Snowbank Campground and west to the divide with Big Timber and Gardiner Ranger Districts, including Passage Creek, Wallace Creek, Colley Creek, Lambert Creek, the headwaters of Mill Creek, Anderson Creek, East Dam Creek, Jomaha Creek and the east fork of Mill Creek.