Weather keeps Glaicer Park fire in check; containment grows

There was little change overnight in the Reynolds Creek Fire in Glacier Park, as an elite team of firefighters continued to be aided by weather conditions.

“Today we actually got a little bit of rain on the west side of the fire,” said Mike Cole, information officer with the National Incident Management Team handling the fire. 

“It’s raining at the fire camp right now,” he said around 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

Cole said clouds raised the humidity a bit, slowing down the fire, but added, “There’s still a big, hot fire.”

The fire, which started on Tuesday, is currently listed as approximately 3,158 acres, according to a press release issued Saturday night. Cole said the fire is now 20 percent contained.

“We’re making progress on the west, south and east side of the fire.”

About 570 firefighters and support crew members are assigned to the fire. Of that number, there are 12, 20-person Hot Shot or Type 2 crews.

Seven heavy lift helicopters stayed engaged throughout the day Saturday, assisting crews on the ground by dropping water on the head of the fire at the northeast perimeter.

“Heavy lift helicopters are ones that can lift the most weight off the ground,” Cole said. “One has a bucket that can hold about 2,400 gallons in one trip. Three of them can each carry between 1,200 and 1,400 gallons.”

Seven water tenders are also on the scene.

Water has been gathered from St. Mary Lake and dropped on hot spots as needed.

The proximity of St. Mary Lake has aided efforts and kept costs of transporting water down — although the cost of fighting the fire as of Saturday night was roughly $2.9 million and growing, according to Cole.

“You usually don’t have a large lake right by a fire like this,” Cole said.

Firefighters also constructed a line near Two Dog Flats, with a goal of completing a fireline around the head of the fire, to the north and west, towards Two Dog Creek. That work continues today.

“We don’t have lines all tied together. We still have a ways to get there. We’re making progress,” Cole said, noting that on the west side of the fire crews have to finish a line through heavy downed timber.

“Tomorrow we’ll put some fire line explosives on the west side of the line — in the area where the fire started on the north side of Going-to-the-Sun Highway — into an avalanche chute into the rocks,” Cole said. “It’s a way to improve our lines really fast — clear out burnable material.”

Hotshot crews are also concentrating on the western heel of the fire to keep it from advancing up the St. Mary River drainage. Firefighters will also continue dropping snags and clearing debris near the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

The Going-to-the-Sun Road is closed between the St. Mary entrance on the east side and Big Bend on the west side.

Cole estimates the fire to be about 3.5 miles southwest of the St. Mary park entrance.

The Sperry Trail is open from Lake McDonald Lodge to Gunsight Pass according to a press release. Travel beyond the pass is prohibited due to the fire. The Lake Ellen Wilson backcountry site is now reopened.

Beginning at 8 a.m. on Sunday, the mandatory evacuation along the west shore of Lower St. Mary Lake will be downgraded to a warning. The warning status of the east side of lower St. Mary Lake will be downgraded to an advisory. The townsite of St. Mary will continue to remain at an advisory level.

A fire information meeting is scheduled at 6 p.m. today in the West Glacier Community Building in West Glacier. 

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