Rising Sun employees evacuated quickly; staying in tent camp in Coram

Staff and guests at Rising Sun Motor Inn were able evacuate in about 15 minutes Tuesday as the Reynolds Creek Fire blossomed in Glacier National Park.

Glacier Park Lodges general manager Marc Ducharme said about 60 employees were loaded onto red buses and taken out of the valley. About 150 guests were also evacuated, given refunds for their rooms and a list of other hotels they could stay at in the area.

“It took about 15 minutes,” he said.

Ducharme said while employees were being evacuated, staff took the company’s warehouse truck and loaded it with just about every tent and camping supply they could purchase from Wal Mart in Kalispell.

He said that within an hour, everyone was gone from the facility.

They’re now all staying at a “tent city” of sorts at Glacier Park Lodges campground in Coram, which the company purchased last year from the Brown family.

Ducharme said the company isn’t worried about Many Glacier. Prevailing winds don’t appear to be pushing the fire in that direction, Ducharme noted.