The fire was first reported at approximately 3:45 p.m. on Tuesday, July 21 and was located near Grizzly Point, approximately 6 miles east of Logan Pass. Park dispatch received numerous reports of the fire from shuttle bus drivers, Glacier Boat Company employees, park employees and visitors.
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A portion of U.S. Highway 12 was closed to traffic because of the fire, which was burning just north of the roadway, Bushnell said.
The park also announced that St. Mary Campground, which has 148 camp sites, is being evacuated, which followed the evacuation Tuesday evening of The Rising Sun Motor Inn, operated by Glacier National Park Lodges, and the Rising Sun Campground. But the east side from Logan Pass to St. Mary’s Visitor’s Center remains closed.
Going-to-the-Sun Road, the winding 50 mile road that traverses the park and provides breathtaking views, is closed from the St. Mary entrance on the east side and Avalanche on the west side, and there is no access to any trails or backcountry areas from the road. Thousands of vehicles travel the roadway daily during the peak days in July and August. It apparently belonged to a hiker who left it parked there while venturing into the backcountry.
“These conditions may create explosive fire growth potential”, Germann said in a statement. The blaze has since charred about 2,000 acres (809 hectares) in the park, officials said. The fire was one of six massive blazes that burned more than 136,000 acres of land in Glacier that year, more than 13 percent of the preserve’s 1 million acres. The road closure is in response to the fire, firefighter and visitor safety, fire response activities, and park personnel priorities.
The St. Mary Campground is being evacuated.
“It’s smoky up here and nobody really knows how big the fire is”, Chris Rossmiller said at 8:34 p.m. from Rising Sun, where he said firefighters were spraying down buildings. National Park Service personnel are working in cooperation with Glacier County Sheriff’s Office and Blackfeet Emergency Management. Two campgrounds and a day-use area were closed.
Forecasts called for strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures that were expected to stoke the flames further on Wednesday afternoon.
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The wind-driven Reynolds Creek fire is moving quickly in dry, heavy timber and extreme fire behavior is being reported, according to Glacier Park spokeswoman Denise Germann.
