A vehicle which lost its tire rim sparked a blaze that consumed between 20 and 30 acres of grassland early Friday evening.

Shortly before 6 p.m., Williston Rural Firefighters responded to a grass fire, located nine miles west of Williston on U.S. Highway 2.

Firefighters managed to keep the flames 50 yards away from a home in the area. Two volunteers were later given oxygen as a precaution, but there were no injuries. Firefighters remained at the scene for 3 1/2 hours. “It was so smokey, and that made it hard to see,” said Rural Fire Chief Dave Benth.

“It was really thick green grass and tall brush that hadn’t been grazed for a while.” He added the wind would suddenly switch directions, making visibility worse. “The smoke would get so bad, we’d have to pull out for a while.” Sixteen volunteers responded with three grass trucks, a pumper unit and one tanker.

Bainville, Mont. and the Trenton Fire departments were called in for mutual aid, but called off as the Williston Rural Department contained the fire. Horses in the area were startled, but not injured in the incident, according to witnesses. There also was no structural damage. Firefighters left the scene around 9:30 p.m. Friday.

Authorities reported no injuries to the motorist whose vehicle ignited the fire. The vehicle was towed away while the fire was being contained.