U.S. 2 reopens, but fires still a threat

U.S. 2 along the southern edge of Glacier National Park reopened to traffic Saturday morning as did the BNSF Railway line through the Middle Fork Corridor.

The highway and railroad had been closed since Thursday afternoon because of fire danger.

Pilot cars will escort traffic on U.S. 2 between mile markers 177 and 185. Vehicles are not allowed to stop or park in this section and the speed limit has been reduced to 35 mph.

Amtrak passenger trains were also running on Saturday.

Public Information Officer Gregg DeNitto said trains were being allowed to run as early as Friday night.

The highway and railroad had been closed since Thursday afternoon because of the Sheep Fire, which remains at 428 acres and is burning about 2.5 miles south of Essex in the Great Bear Wilderness of Flathead National Forest.

“This is our best estimate at this time,” said Public Information Officer Gregg DeNitto adding that smoky conditions have limited the ability to assess fires.

There have been no evacuations due to the fire, although the Essex area is under a pre-evacuation alert.

“What this means is that people should have their important papers, medication, anything valuable ready to load in a vehicle and move,” DeNitto said. “If they have livestock or trailers they want to have protected, those should be moved out of the area.”

The fire is burning in steep, difficult terrain with limited access. DeNitto said it isn’t safe yet to put ground forces in until they get a good assessment of how the fire is acting. Currently it is being fought aggressively by air.

A Skycrane helicopter, capable of carrying a water load equivalent in weight to an F-550 truck, was scheduled to arrive Saturday for the firefighting effort. A mobile fire retardant base is being used for helicopter bucket drops.

The Granite Fire located west of Marias Pass and south of U.S. 2 in the Great Bear Wilderness has burned 176 acres. Air forces are also being implemented on this fire, but three engines are expected to be sent in Sunday. Structure protection measures have been made on several backcountry cabins and trailhead structures and a wooden bridge.

Neither the Sheep or Granite fires have been contained.

“Our intention is getting our firefighters in both the Granite and Sheep fires to do some good reconnaissance,” DeNitto said. “Even though they had limited activity, with the weather turning back to warm, dry and breezy we anticipate those fires will be re-invigorated with potential to spread.”

The Spruce fire is 100 percent contained after crews established control lines today. The small fire burned three acres.

The Thompson Fire located in a remote south-central backcountry area about 15 miles east of the West Glacier National Park entrance has burned 14,095 acres with two historic cabins at risk, but the fire poses no threat to communities around East Glacier and St. Mary. Crews are close to finishing mop-up on all edges of the fire.

“We’re feeling very confident to moving the Thompson Fire into monitoring status,” DeNitto said. “We feel it will stay way up on the hill.”

In the Spotted Bear area, two major fires have grown slightly.

The Bear Creek Fire has grown roughly 245 acres since Friday and has burned a total of 18,000 acres as of Saturday.

Friday’s precipitation and higher relative humidity Saturday allowed fire crews to begin basic mop-up around the Meadow Creek Trailhead. The weather also allowed the state Air Quality Bureau to cancel air quality alerts for all counties in Montana.

Al Koss, public information officer for the Spotted Bear District, said crews are developing a large closure that encompasses the northern portion of the Bob Marshall Wilderness. The closure is anticipated to go into effect today.

“The reason is for public safety in and around the fires,” Koss said.

Due to the lack of resources and the remote location of the two fires, crews are doing specific point protection of structures, Koss said. This includes wrapping the Meadow Creek Gorge Pack Bridge, wooden hitch trails, bulletin board and stock loading ramps with fire resistant material.

“We’ve been doing some mop up on the Meadow Creek Trailhead and then we’ve had engines patrolling the Meadow Creek Road between Meadow Creek Trailhead and Gorge Creek Trailhead,” Koss said.

That road is currently closed to the public.

Wilderness rangers are staged at Black Bear Cabin in the Bob Marshall Wilderness to contact wilderness users and advise of alternate exit routes.

As a precautionary measure, structure protection procedures (wrapping buildings with fire resistant material or placing hoses and pumps around structures) is occurring at Black Bear Cabin, Spotted Bear Lookout and buildings at the Spotted Bear Ranger District compound.

The Trail Fire and the Flat Creek Fire have merged and are now referred to as just the Trail Fire.

The Trail Fire has burned 9,000 acres, up about 537 acres from Friday. A five-acre spot fire was discovered on the south side of the Spotted Bear River Road and was being mopped up Saturday. Heavy logging machinery and hand crews are completing fire lines and mopping up hot spots along the southwestern flank off the Flat Creek Road.

Three new fires were detected Friday night and four were detected Saturday in the Kootenai National Forest including the Tobacco View Fire and the Sterling Fire on the Rexford/Fortine Ranger District, the Fritz Mountain Fire and the South Portal Fire on state protection land, the Caribou Creek Fire on the Troy Ranger District, the Berray 3 Fire and Pine Ridge Fire in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness.

All seven fires have been the focus of aggressive initial attack. Visibility improved making it easier for air support to detect fires and assist with suppression.

Aside from the three fire complexes on the forest, all other fires have been contained and are either in the mop-up stage or being monitored, with one exception — the Tepee Fire on the Troy Ranger District in the Yaak. This fire is still active and crews continue to make progress constructing fire line with heavy equipment and assistance from air support.

The Northeast Kootenai Complex includes the Marston, Sunday, and Barnaby Fires. None of these fires experienced significant growth, with Marston remaining at 3,200 acres (5 percent contained), Barnaby at 40 acres (0 percent contained) and Sunday at 60 acres (70 percent contained).

A population protection plan has been created to determine when evacuations would take place if the need arises. No evacuations are currently in effect.

The Clark Fork Complex includes fires on the Idaho Panhandle National Forest.

On the Kootenai, crews are managing the Sawtooth Fire at 2,129 acres, the Hamilton Fire at 1,169 acres, the Napoleon 1 Fire at 2,217 acres, the Napoleon 3 Fire at 1,726 acres, the Star Gulch Fire at 544 acres, and the Government Fire at 252 acres.

None of these fires experienced significant growth. Effort continues to be concentrated on constructing and improving fire line.

The Waterton Lake Fire has been 100 percent contained.

As of Saturday, all trail closures associated with the fire were lifted. Pass Creek day-use area remains closed because it is being used as a camp for fire crews.

Parks Canada crews will continue to patrol the fire area and extinguish any hot spots. Visitors are advised to not disturb fire fighting equipment along the Lakeshore Trail between Boundary Bay and Goat Haunt.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.