Thompson wildfire grows in Glacier backcountry

While one major fire in Glacier National Park continues to simmer, another sprang to life in Glacier’s backcountry over the weekend.

The Thompson Fire, burning near Thompson Creek in the upper Nyack drainage, has charred more than 11,000 acres as of Tuesday evening and will likely grow larger in the coming days as temperatures are expected to be in the 90s with the potential for dry thunderstorms with high winds across the region.

The fire is about 16 miles north of U.S. Highway 2 in the Middle Fork, in Glacier’s remote southern backcountry. It currently does not threaten any roads in the Park, but it’s putting up impressive plumes of smoke visible from West Glacier and the highway.

A Type III Interagency Incident Command Team is working with Glacier National Park to respond to the fire, with personnel from the Flathead National Forest, the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and National Park Service resources.

No firefighters are working on the ground at this point, but helicopters are dropping water on the blaze. The fire was discovered Sunday afternoon, spotted by the lookout at Loneman Peak.

The Thompson Fire has closed all trails in the area, including the Nyack, Cut Bank Pass and Coal Creek trails and the backcountry campsites at Beaver Woman Lake, upper and lower Nyack and Coal Creek. The fire has the potential to spread to Cut Bank Pass.

The Reynolds Creek Fire meanwhile continues to simmer, but firefighters last week had a good enough handle on it so the Park could reopen the Going-to-the-Sun Road east of Logan Pass. The fire has burned an eight-mile, 4,000-acre swath of land along the east side of the Sun Road from Deadwood Falls to Two Dog Creek. Fire suppression costs on the blaze have topped $10.1 million.

Motorists aren’t allowed to stop between Siyeh Bend and the St. Mary campground except at the boat dock at St. Mary Lake and at Rising Sun, where the camp store and the boat tours have reopened. The Rising Sun campground will likely remain closed for the rest of the season. The Reynolds Creek Fire is still simmering inside the fire perimeter and is more active in the Rose and Baring Creek drainages.

Thunderstorms Monday evening brought more lightning to the region and little rain.