Sprague Fire grows to 500 acres

The Sprague Fire in Glacier National Park has grown to more than 500 acres and is starting to drop down into both the Snyder and Sprague creek drainages.

The lightning-caused fire is just above the Gunsight Pass Trail, one of the most popular hikes in Glacier, and has been moving closer to the trail each day. The terrain in the area is heavily wooded and very steep.

Smoke from the fire is visible from the foot of Lake McDonald. Despite the fire, most of the park remains open, including the full length of Going-to-the-Sun Road.

A red flag warning was issued through Saturday morning, with the potential for high winds and extreme fire behavior. If the fire spots onto Mount Brown, it could burn up and over the ridge, which is just above Avalanche Campground.

Due to dry fuels and predicted weather conditions, fire managers expect to see continued fire growth over the next several weeks, as there’s no rain in the forecast for the forseeable future.

The fire is being managed by the Flathead Interagency Type III Team led by Incident Commander Jim Edgren. The team’s strategy is to use natural features such as ridges, creek bottoms, avalanche chutes and rocky areas to enhance actions including the use of sprinklers, pumps and water drops from helicopters.

Friday, crews were installing pumps, sprinklers and hoses along the Snyder Lake and Gunsight Pass trails that will be used in conjunction with helicopters dropping water on the blaze. Crews were establishing an anchor point to work from at the Crystal Ford footbridge. The goal is to prevent fire from moving west past this point.

Fire information officer Katie Liming said they were running sprinkler lines a quarter-mile in each direction from the Crystal Ford Bridge. About 60 firefighters are on the fire. They have one helicopter and they have to share that with other blazes in the region, Liming said.

Sperry Chalet remains closed. The structures at Sperry Chalet are not immediately threatened by fire, however structure protection equipment is in place. As a precautionary measure, the Mount Brown Lookout has been wrapped with protective material.

Closures remain in place for the Gunsight Pass Trail from Lake McDonald to Gunsight Pass, including all secondary trails. Some additional backcountry campgrounds are closed due to other small fires, they include the Camas and Arrow Lake campgrounds due to a small fire on Rogers Peak.

Glacier also has a small fire on Adair Ridge near Logging Lake. That fire is expected to grow as well over the next few days.

All frontcountry campgrounds remain open. Check https://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/hikingthetrails.htm for updated status.