Elite team takes command of Glacier Park fire
<p><strong>The Flathead Helitack</strong> helicopter flies in to assist with the Reynolds Creek Fire on Wednesday. (Brenda Ahearn/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p><strong>Park Rangers</strong> put up Do Not Enter signs on teh Sun Road at St. Mary.</p>
<p>Roger Anderson of Princeton, Massachusetts, takes photos of the smoke plume billowing over East Glacier on Wednesday afternoon, July 22, from St. Mary. The Reynolds Creek Fire has grown from 2,000 to 4,000 acres causing the closure of nearly half of Going-to-the-Sun Road and creating a smoke plume that has spread beyond the borders of the park into Canada. Going-to-the-Sun Road is the only road goes up and through Glacier National Park. It crosses the continental divide at Logan Pass and is currently closed from Big Bend, which is before visitors reach Logan Pass, all the way to St. …
More than 300 personnel are now deployed at the Reynolds Creek Fire in Glacier National Park, which grew to more than 4,000 acres by 4 p.m. Thursday.
According to the Flathead National Forest dispatch on Thursday, the fire had grown to 5,000 acres by Thursday afternoon, but incident commanders fighting the fire said Friday that number was exaggerated, and the fire was still closer to 4,000 acres.
Incident team spokeswoman Jennifer Costich said the fire had already swept past Rising Sun Campground, which was evacuated Tuesday night. By Thursday afternoon it had reached the Two Dog Flats area, near the northern shore of St. Mary Lake.
“It was pretty quiet all night and through the morning, but as the winds picked up it was definitely the smoke column again,” she said. “Instead of just having wisps of smoke coming up from stringers, you’re getting full fire front development and sometimes the columns actually create their own wind and weather.”
The 300 personnel included six 20-person hotshot crews, about 25 engines, six helicopters and 18 overhead staff. An elite Type I incident management team, led by Greg Poncin of Kalispell, was scheduled to assume control of suppression activities at 10 p.m. Thursday, triggering a large-scale increase in firefighting resources. Only 16 Type I teams exist in the country, reserved for suppressing the most complex wildland fires.
A meeting to update the public on current fire conditions will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. today in the Great Bear Conference Room at St. Mary Lodge.
Dry conditions and 15 to 20 mile per hour winds continued to fuel the fire, with the same forecast for today. The National Weather Service has declared a third straight red flag warning in the area today, effective from 10 a.m. to midnight. A chance of showers and thunderstorms is forecast beginning Saturday, increasing through the weekend. Cool weather on Monday could keep temperatures below 60 degrees, with high-elevation snow possible.
Humidity and a lack of wind helped firefighters hold the fire to 4,000 acres overnight and into Thursday morning, after it doubled from 2,000 acres on Wednesday. The blaze began as a two-acre fire about six miles east of Logan Pass Tuesday afternoon, but winds quickly blew it out of control. Flames marched east through heavy, dry timber as it grew to approximately 4,000 acres within a 24-hour span.
While St. Mary held no shortage of disappointed visitors Wednesday, Costich noted that the vast majority of the park remains open, and visitors are welcome at any of the locations not affected by or in the path of the blaze.
“There’s still a lot of recreational opportunities out there that are safe to enjoy,” she said. “The only thing that’s being affected is the area between the St. Mary Visitor Center and Big Bend on Going-to-the-Sun Road.”
On the park’s west side, 28 miles of the Sun Road from the West Glacier entrance to Big Bend are still open.
Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.