Glacier National Park – Reynolds Creek Wildfire and Backcountry Closures

[MFR]

If you haven't heard yet, a major wildfire started in the St. Mary area of Glacier National Park yesterday afternoon. The Reynolds Creek Fire was reported yesterday about 3:45 at only a couple of acres, but within four hours it had spread to nearly 1,000. This morning, the last update (approximately 0900 MDT) from the Kalispell Interagency Dispatch Center has the estimate at 2,000 acres. We've had an exceptionally warm and dry spring and summer, and conditions have been very poor locally, with sweeping fire bans in place for the last three weeks. Snow is gone, rivers are low, several high temperature records have all been broken, and things generally feel as if they are 4-5 weeks ahead of schedule. In other words, the potential for a very large fire is high all over Northwest Montana. In fact, the National Weather Service used the word "explosive" to describe the impact of swift, hot winds expected this afternoon.

I know that Glacier has become more and more popular on this site in the last few years, and I'm sure some on here have plans to hike in the park soon. Things are developing quickly, and many trails in the park are already closed, and fire management teams are just arriving on the scene. The main thoroughfare the Going-to-the-Sun Road is currently closed from Big Bend (a few miles west of Logan Pass) all the way to St. Mary. Right now, the Park Service is retrieving vehicles left along the road and is preparing the St. Mary Visitor Center (also closed) as the staging ground for the fire management teams. Rangers are searching the backcountry for hikers to bring them in safely.

If you're planning on coming to Glacier this summer, I'd recommend you monitor the situation closely. I've found the Flathead Beacon to be the most informative and helpful of the local papers, so I'd recommend keeping a close eye on their website for all interested.

On a personal level, I drove the Sun Road past the fire site a mere three hours before the fire started with some family who came to visit our new daughter, and I was planning to snag an open permit in the St. Mary area to take my uncle out and show him the park. Obviously, my loss of plans is minor to say the least, but given how much this place has meant to me, my wife, and hopefully soon to our daughter, this is very, very scary.

[MFR]

I did a visual estimate of the affected area and general location using the Google Maps Area Calculator to put this in perspective. Obviously this is not the actual area burning–it would be much more irregular, and it's probably starting to spread down one or both sides of the lake (given the prevailing winds). But it gives you an idea of the scale of this thing, in less than 18 hours.

[Joseph Elfelt]

Here is an online map for the Reynolds fire.

The following link displays (1) the Google aerial, (2) fire hotspots from satellite sensors and (3) a rough running forecast for wind in 6 hours.

To see the map legend, learn how to turn data layers on/off and get other tips for using the map, click “About this map” in the upper left corner of the map.

(I tried adding the html to make this link clickable but could not get that to work)

http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=48.704557,-113.578034&z=11&t=h,Wind_in_6_hrs,Current_fire&q=http://www.propertylinemaps.com/p/public_land_map/USA/USA_wildland_fire.txt

The map is displayed by Gmap4. I am the developer of this enhanced Google map viewer. This project is a public service and part of my way to “pay it forward”.

The wind forecast comes from a NOAA server. The fire data comes, in part, from a federal server operated by the GeoMAC team. If data is collected to show the fire perimeter, then (1) the feds will post that data to the GeoMAC server and (2) the above map link will always show the most recent perimeter data that has been posted to that server.

Joseph, the Gmap4 guy

[MFR]

This is really nice Joseph. Thanks.

[Kris Sherwood]

I was camping at St Mary a week ago today. What a shame. It is tinder dry over there and was quite windy during our stay. I hope this can be contained, but I cringe at the possibilities of what this could turn in to.

[Justin Miller]

Doubled since yesterday. Sounds to be a real tinderbox.

I was on the fence about trying to get a walk-up trip late next month that planed to include Reynolds Creek. I can scrap that thought now.

Curious to hear the cause. It doesn't appear they had any suspect weather move through on Monday/Tuesday. I've heard Reynolds Creek can be problematic with folks camping there w/o a permit due to it's proximity with GttSR.

[MFR]

Based on what I can ascertain–NPS descriptions & press releases, social media accounts, and a very helpful picture a pilot posted on Facebook as he flew over the early stages of the fire–the blaze looks to have started in or very close to the Reynolds Creek backcountry campground. This area also gets a lot of cross-traffic from those exploring around the St. Mary Falls area, as its fairly close but offers a different parking lot for access.

My money is on a human-cause–likely from a campfire at Reynolds Creek or a cigarette butt. I've heard of problems with Reynolds Creek as a campground for that very same reason you mentioned.

[MFR]

I should mention that Glacier has gone out of its way in press releases, etc. to point out that the majority of the park is open and unaffected by the fire–only the vicinity of Logan Pass and St. Mary Lake are closed. In fact, given the prevailing winds taking the smoke straight out onto the prairie, plumes are hardly visible, if at all, in most areas. Likewise, there has been little impact on air quality outside the affected areas.

Currently, the Going-to-the-Sun Road is closed between Big Bend and St. Mary.

All campgrounds, hotels, restaurants, and trails that proceed from the road in this section are closed as well (though many are accessible from other areas of the park, I'm not sure which sections of trail are closed).

That includes the following trails:

— Gunsight Pass trail
— Highline trail from Granite Park Chalet to Logan Pass
— Red Eagle trail
— Piegan Pass trail beyond Feathern Plume junction in Many Glacier

[David Chenault]

Maybe next year the Reynolds Creek BC campground will finally have big views.

Not sure how long it's been since that valley burned, but I would guess over a century. Will be neat to see it next June.

[MFR]

The Going-to-the-Sun Road opened up to Logan Pass recently, as firefighting efforts continue to work reasonably well so far. I'll reiterate what the park has been at pains to say (especially significant given the sudden decline in visitors): Most of the park is open, free of smoke, and fantastically beautiful as usual (though fire restrictions remain in place).

Also, it appears that the fire was human-caused; according to the Flathead Beacon:

Initial evidence suggests that a wildfire that burned 5 square miles in Glacier National Park may have been human-caused, officials said.

. . . They are asking for information from hikers who were in the Reynolds Creek area and campers in the nearby backcountry campground between July 14 and July 21.

The Reynolds Creek Fire started in that area July 21 and spread quickly north of Lower St. Mary Lake, leading to the closure of 18 miles of the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

. . . Park visitors that were hiking in the area of Reynolds Creek on the Gunsight Pass Trail or that may have been staying in or hiking through the Reynolds Creek Backcountry Campground, from July 14 to July 21, are encouraged to call 888-653-0009 or email [email protected]

[USA Duane Hall]

I was unaware of the fire until I was in a motel room Wed., July 22. I smelled a little smoke that AM as I was leaving Kootenai Lakes, thought someone had a wood stove going. Even when I got to my car at Packers Roost at 3:30, I still could not see or smell smoke, nice the wind was not in that direction. Some guys doing a amphibian survey, made no mention of the fire and they had come in that morning, saw them on the old burnt ridge past Fifty Mt. CG.
Duane

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