Howe Ridge Fire grows to 3,500 acres

The Howe Ridge Fire in Glacier National Park has grown to 3,500 acres after an active fire day Wednesday.

The fire has spilled over Howe Ridge with additional spotting and growth on the north edge of the fire on the southern slope of Mount Stanton, as well as the northwest edge of the fire toward Rogers Lake.

Rogers Lake is a remote lake on the north side of Howe Ridge.

A “K-Max” Type 1 helicopter and “Huey” Type 2 helicopter dropped water on the edges of the fire throughout yesterday afternoon and evening in order to slow fire growth, the park said in a release, but fixed-wing aircraft were prevented from flying due to low visibility.

Private landowners at the north end of the lake were permitted to access their properties. Some areas were deemed unsafe due to conditions and those landowners were not able to extensively access their property area, but were able to view it.

The fire burned down several structures in the area, including most of Kelly’s Camp.

The Going-to-the-Sun Road remains closed at the foot of Lake McDonald to Logan Pass, but the Camas Road is still open. The fire hasn’t been visible from the foot of the lake for the past few days due to smoke, though winds last night at least blew most of the smoke out of the valley and people were still picnicking and enjoying the lakeshore, fire not.

Most of Glacier Park remains open.

Logan Pass and the Sun Road are open from St. Mary east.

The Southwest Area Type 1 Incident Management Team, under the command of John Pierson, is onsite and will be taking over management of the fire at 6 a.m. tomorrow.

Other fires are also of concern.

An evacuation warning was issued yesterday for residences near the Paola Ridge Fire up the Middle Fork near Essex. That fire has the potential to threaten U.S. Highway 2. That fire is listed at 400 acres. The Coal Ridge Fire which is located near Coal Ridge in the North Fork of the Flathead is about 5 miles west of Polebridge.

It’s actually been downgraded in size a bit and is listed about just over 260 acres. If it went on a run, it could impact the North Fork Road and residents in the area.

Several large fires over the years have started in the Whitefish Range and burned across the North Fork Valley into Glacier National Park.

The weather today calls for a chance of thunderstorms, though not much rain. Tomorrow there’s another chance of storms with a better chance of brief rain. Sunday there’s also a chance of rain into Monday. Even without rain, skies should be cloudy, which helps firefighting efforts and temperatures for the next few days will be cooler, with highs in the upper 70s to mid 80s, the National Weather Service is predicting.