Progress Made on Glacier National Park Wildfire

The following are some key updates on the Reynolds Creek Fire in Glacier National Park. The information comes from the Inciweb website, which was updated last night. Here are a few items, including a map of the area impacted by the fire (click on photo for more details):

* The Reynolds Creek Fire is burning along the north shore of Saint Mary Lake, in rocky, rugged terrain and burning in timber, brush, and grass. Conditions remain dry, despite after thundershowers received yesterday afternoon. Beginning at 8 a.m. this morning, July 26th, the Level 1 (mandatory evacuation) along the west shore of Lower St. Mary Lake will be downgraded to Level 2 (warning). The Level 2 (warning) status of the east side of lower St. Mary Lake will be downgraded to Level 3 (advisory). The town site of St. Mary will continue to remain at a Level 3 (advisory).

* There are currently 570 personnel fighting the fire at this time.

* The official size of the fire has been re-estimated to be 3158 acres (rather than the 4000 acres previously reported). The fire is now 20% contained.

* The Going-to-the-Sun Road remains closed between the St. Mary entrance on the east side and Big Bend on the west side.

* The St. Mary Campground, the Rising Sun Motor Inn, and the Rising Sun Campground have been evacuated. The St. Mary Visitor Center is also closed to the public.

Although the fire continues to burn in the St. Mary Valley, the rest of the park is still open, with tons of outstanding hiking opportunities available. Remember, the park is more than one million acres in size. The Two Medicine, Many Glacier, Belly River, Bowman Lake and Lake McDonald areas all provide hikes that offer epic Glacier National Park scenery. For more information on many of the hikes in these areas, please click here.



Jeff
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RockyMountainHikingTrails.com
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