Glacier Park fire explodes to 11,400 acres
<p><strong>The smoke plume</strong> from the Thompson Fire rises Tuesday behind Glacier Park peaks in this view from the Nyack area on U.S. 2. The plume reached an altitude of 40,000 feet. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p><strong>Smoke from</strong> the Thompson Fire in Glacier National Park pours into the sky in this view from Lost Creek Road and Farm-to-Market Road in West Valley on Tuesday afternoon. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p><strong>This map</strong> released Tuesday evening, Aug. 11, shows the perimeter of the Thompson Fire in Glacier National Park after it exploded to 11,400 acres on Tuesday.</p>
As a boiling smoke plume rose to the east of the Flathead Valley on Tuesday afternoon, the calls started coming in to the Daily Inter Lake.
Was there a fire in Columbia Falls? The Bob Marshall Wilderness? Hungry Horse Reservoir? Jewel Basin?
It was none of the above.
The towering smoke was coming from Glacier National Park during a major expansion of the Thompson Fire, which jumped from 1,900 acres Monday night to 11,400 acres by Tuesday evening.
The massive smoke cloud — reaching as high as 40,000 feet into the sky, according to the National Weather Service — was visible not only from the Flathead Valley but also Logan Pass, East Glacier, St. Mary and Many Glacier.
“It looks like a giant cauliflower stalk in the sky,” said John Antonucci, the chef at Stanton Creek Lodge on U.S. 2. “This thing is directly in front of my front door, square in front of my front door.”
One caller to the Inter Lake likened the boiling smoke to a volcano.
Satellite imagery from the National Weather Service showed the plume visible from space as it soared higher into the sky throughout the afternoon.
The fire was first spotted Sunday afternoon.
It is burning in the Nyack Creek drainage north of Mount Stimson in a remote area of Glacier Park, about 10 miles north of U.S. 2 and 9 miles south of Going-to-the-Sun Road.
According to the Kalispell Dispatch Center’s incident report, the fire started near the confluence of Thompson Creek and Nyack Creek.
The fire is burning in heavy timber and rugged terrain, precluding the possibility of placing ground crews near it, park spokeswoman Denise Germann said Tuesday afternoon.
Two helicopters continued to dump water on the fire. A firefighting force of 35 people is working on the fire, with a Type 2 management team scheduled to assume control of the fire effort.
“There was an inversion this morning, and when that lifted, that’s what created that column and that’s when it really went to town,” Germann said.
“Conditions have just aligned themselves for extreme fire behavior,” she said, pointing to dry vegetation, minimal moisture, high temperatures and low humidity.
The Weather Service anticipates that the hot, dry weather will remain throughout the rest of the week. Temperatures in the 90s are forecast through Friday in West Glacier, reaching 94 degrees today and 97 degrees tomorrow.
“Humidity will be low, definitely in the teens over the next couple days,” said Genki Kino, a meteorologist with the Weather Service.
Scattered thunderstorms could bring significant wind gusts into the area Thursday, although only a scattered possibility of rain is expected. Significant moisture could bring relief on Friday, however, and is expected to usher in cooler temperatures heading into the weekend.
The increased fire danger prompted park officials to issue additional fire restrictions for backcountry camping, although campfires in designated fire rings in the front country will still be permitted.
The Thompson Fire is threatening two historic backcountry structures in the park. The Upper Nyack Snowshoe cabin, built in 1926, and the Lower Nyack Snowshoe Cabin, built in 1927, are both located near Nyack Creek Trail, according to the National Register of Historic Places.
Germann said that crews were working to protect at least one of the structures, mitigating fuels near the cabin and wrapping it with fire resistant materials.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation by the park.
The Thompson Fire has prompted closure of the Nyack and Coal Creek areas, including trails and backcountry campsites.
Additional trail closures can be expected due to increased fire activity. For updated information on trail status, visit http://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/trailstatusreports.htm.
North of the Thompson Fire, the Reynolds Creek Fire continues to burn within the fire perimeter north of St. Mary Lake in Glacier Park.
For online information on fires within Glacier, go to http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/state/27.
Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.