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Crews in Mont., W. Canada Fight Wildfires

Posted on: Sunday, 3 August 2003, 06:00 CDT

As Glacier National Park officials prepared to reopen some areas that had been closed by wildfires, firefighters in extreme northwestern Montana had help from the weather as they tried to rein in a blaze that had jumped the main defense line.

After days of showing little movement, the 25,000-acre fire broke loose Saturday night, throwing embers across a road to burn an additional 400 to 500 acres, fire information officer Marty O'Toole said Sunday.

O'Toole said fire managers contacted Canadian officials because in a worst-case scenario, the fire could quickly burn more forest now that it has gotten past Trail Creek Road, about five miles from the border.

Crews in Canada's western territories already have their hands full battling the worst wildfires in a half-century, which have consumed dozens of buildings and forced the evacuation of 11,000 people. No deaths have been reported.

British Columbia declared a state of emergency to hasten federal aid, with firefighters from neighboring Alberta and Ontario provinces arriving to help battle 350 blazes. Military troops also were dispatched to help out.

Another spate of fires in Alberta threatened a community in the mountainous region near the border with Montana, where fire information officer Marty O'Toole reported that fires were within five miles of the Canadian border.

In Montana, more than 1,200 firefighters were already protecting some 100 residences on the remote, heavily forested area along and just inside the western edge of Glacier National Park. No buildings were destroyed in the weekend advance, but the fire already had burned 36 buildings, including seven homes.

Officials asked residents several days ago to evacuate the area all the way to the Canada. Canadian firefighters have bulldozed a defense line just north of the border.

The fire slowed Sunday under clouds and some light rain.

Fire commander Wally Bennett said Sunday's rain "really shut the fire down and made our job a lot easier."

Thirty miles to the south, Glacier officials announced Sunday that areas of the park's western side - which has been closed since July 24 - would reopen to day use on Monday, with additional areas opening Tuesday.

In the town of West Glacier, residents and business operators began returning Sunday morning after an evacuation order was lifted.

On Friday, more than 1,000 firefighters blocked a wildfire that was advancing on the town and park headquarters.

The fire, estimated at more than 24,000 acres Sunday, was growing less troublesome because of the changing weather, fire commander Joe Stam said. "We feel real good about the fire," he told a gathering of residents Sunday night.

The western side of the park has been hit by fires that burned into its western boundary and forced the closure of a key road.

The Glacier fires were among about 25 major active blazes in the West on Sunday, according to the National Interagency Fire Center, which said higher humidity and cooler temperatures were helping firefighters gain the upper hand in several areas.

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On the Net:

National Interagency Fire Center: http://www.nifc.gov

Glacier web cams: http://www.nps.gov/glac/whatsnew.htm

Glacier fire updates: http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/fire/ciimt5/ac/

Robert Fire: http://akteam.ak.blm.gov/

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