Glacier fire blows up

Flames reached as high as 200 feet as an eastern Glacier National Park forest fire covered at least 35 square miles Sunday.

The fire burned at least 22,200 acres by Sunday, and was expected to cover more by the time that next estimate would be calculated today, said Shannon Downey, a spokeswoman for a inter-agency team battling the flames. The fire was estimated at 8,600 acres - at least 13 square miles - late Saturday.

The Red Eagle fire - fueled by extremely dry timber - has been fanned by winds of 15 to 20 mph from the southwest. The winds are expected to shift - to be coming from the northeast with gusts up to 50 mph.

The fire jumped U.S. 89 south of St. Mary. Bulldozers are carving out lines to stop that eastward spread, Downey said. U.S. 89 is closed from Duck Lane Road near Babb in the north to Star School Road in the south.

St. Mary was evacuated Saturday. The Cut Bank Campground in the national park was evacuated Sunday with the area's trails closed to the public. No numbers were available on how many people had to leave the their homes and campsites.

The cause of the fire that began Friday afternoon near Red Eagle Mountain is unknown.

The fire is threatening 87 homes, 90 business buildings and 39 other buildings in western Glacier County, along with sensitive grizzly bear and bull trout habitat in Glacier National Park and the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Downey said. Culturally sensitive Blackfeet sites are also threatened.

The first heavy helicopter began dropping water on the flames Sunday. Planes dropped fire retardants on the flames Saturday with no apparent success. At least 200 firefighters are combating the blaze.

Several federal agencies, the Blackfeet nation and Glacier County are involved in the firefighting.

Meanwhile, much of Glacier National Park remains open, according to a National Parks Service press release.

Going-To-The-Sun Road remains open from the west entrance to Rising Sun. Lodging, food, boat tours and bus tours are still available.

Interpretive programs will still be conducted on the park's west side and on the east side at Many Glacier and Two Medicine, the parks service said. Programs at St. Mary are canceled until that area is reopened.

For information, people can check the park's web site at www.nps.gov/glac/home.htm.

Meanwhile, firefighters have begun to contain a 74-acre fire in the Little Spar Lake area in the Kootenai National Forest in the Cabinet Mountains, the National Forest Service said Sunday.

Two other forest fires are under way in the Bitterroot National Forest, the Associated Press reported.

A 1,650-acre fire is burning six miles southwest of Victor, and another 1,060-acre fire is almost contained six miles northeast of Florence, the AP reported.