Multiple fires continue to roast region

Stoked by winds and lightning, wildfires bloomed across the region last week. The Thompson Fire in Glacier National Park is the largest, racing from about 1,900 acres a week ago to 13,680 acres.

It's burning in the remote Nyack drainage of Glacier National Park and while the fire has the potential to spread across the Continental Divide into the Cut Bank and Two Medicine drainages, it would take a significant wind event to do so.

The fire has burned up into the rocks west of the divide in Cut Bank and Red Eagle passes, but didn't spot over, noted fire information officer Greg DeNitto.

The fire is now being managed as the Thompson Complex of fires, as firefighters under Type II incident commander Irv Leach are also fighting two fires to the south in the Great Bear Wilderness, the Granite Fire near Granite Creek and the Sheep Fire south of Essex, also in the wilderness.

While the fires have caused smoke problems in the Park, most of Glacier, including the full length of the Going-to-the-Sun Road remains open. The Reynolds Fire is still smoking along the road, but the 8-mile long blaze has not seen any growth in the past week.

The Sheep and Granite Fire would have to make significant runs in order to threaten any structures.

The weather over the next few days is expected to be warm and dry through Thursday, but a cold front is expected Friday, which could bring some rain and even snow at higher elevations.

Lightning storms over the past week with little rain sparked a whopping 28 new fires on the Spotted Bear District on the Flathead National Forest. At first the greatest concern was the Bear Creek Fire, which was burning southwest of Spotted Bear in the old Chipmunk Peak Fire area. Firefighters pounded it with water and retardant drops as it had the potential to threaten the Spotted Bear developed area, which includes several cabins, outfitter camps and campgrounds.

They since have gotten a handle on that fire, but there many other fires as well. The largest is the Trail Creek Fire, which closed down the Spotted Bear River Road as it burns north of the popular route.

There was also a fire last week near Waterton Lake. That fire has been contained so far to about 25 acres and was jointly managed by Parks Canada and the National Park Service.

Along the Rocky Mountain Front, there are also numerous fires burning. The Family Peak Complex of fires burned about 500 acres total in the Muskrat Pass, Badger Pass and North Fork of Birch Creek areas.

Multiple trail closures are in effect due to the fires.