New fire in southern Glacier Park grows to 30 acres

A new fire that emerged this week near the southern border of Glacier National Park grew to about 30 acres on Thursday.

The Muir Creek Fire is southwest of Mount St. Nicholas, about 4 miles north of U.S. 2 above the Fielding Cutoff Trail between Park Creek and Coal Creek. It was first reported on Tuesday, July 23. 

Glacier Park officials said the incident was immediately managed as a full suppression fire due to its location, predicted weather conditions and limited availability of national firefighting resources. 

Helicopter rappelers were flown in for the initial attack on Wednesday morning. The rappelers established incident command and directed aviation resources in dropping water on the fire when it was 8 acres in size. Despite these efforts, fire activity increased in the afternoon, and the fire grew to approximately 30 acres, officials said. 

Glacier National Park firefighters were expected to monitor and patrol the fire Thursday.

Management will transition to the Type 3 Incident Management Team on Friday.