Two New Fires Reported Near Essex

A public meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 18 at 7:00 p.m at the Izaak Walton Hotel outside shelter in Essex.

The Incident Management Team in charge of the Thompson Fire in Glacier National Park has assumed management of two new fire starts (Sheep and Granite Fires) on the Flathead National Forest adjacent to Glacier National Park.

Garden Valley Idaho Helitack Crewmembers prepare cargo nets for Black Hills Wildland Fire Module Firefighters’ equipment to be flown by the Type-3 Helicopter to the Glacier National Park Thompson Fire spike camp, Aug. 15, 2015. (Photo Jonathan Moor,GNP)

The Granite Fire is west of Marias Pass south of Hwy. 2 and southeast of Glacier NP. It was detected on Sunday, Aug. 16. It is burning in very steep country in a mixed conifer forest below a ridge. The fire had limited activity Monday, with creeping and smoldering. Warmer, drier weather may cause more surface fire activity and isolated tree torching. Initial attack crews battled the fire yesterday and today constructing containment lines and using helicopter water drops. Additional firefighters were put on the fire Monday and will continue with line construction today.

The Sheep Fire is about 3 miles northwest of Essex. It was detected on Saturday, Aug. 15. It is burning in very steep country with difficult access. Snags are common throughout. The fire had limited activity Monday, with creeping and smoldering. A 5-person smoke jumper crew were put on the fire Monday. They began assessing the fire and initiated line construction. They will be joined on today by a 10 person crew. They will use helicopter water drops to slow fire spread and on any spots beyond the perimeter. The crews will be constructing a containment around the fire from an established anchor point.

Warmer, drier weather may cause more surface fire activity and isolated tree torching on both fires.

These two fires, along with the Thompson Fire, are now referred to as the Thompson-Divide Complex.

The Thompson Fire 8-16-15 (Photo: Jonathon Moor, GNP)

The Thompson Fire, reported Aug. 9,continues to burn in a remote south-central backcountry area of Glacier National Park about 15 miles east of the West Glacier entrance in the Thompson and Nyack drainages west of the Continental Divide.

Crews remained camped out and worked in the Nyack Creek drainage on Monday. They did a burning operation to reduce fuels in avalanche chutes on the west side of the fire’s perimeter to contain the fire. Today they plan to do some cleanup of the burnout operation. Fire personnel in the Two Medicine and Cut Bank drainages will monitor for any fire that might cross to the east-side of the Continental Divide. The fire remains west of the Divide and poses no threat to communities around East Glacier and St. Mary.

Most of Glacier National Park is unaffected by this wildfire and is available for recreational use. Limited backcountry closures are in place. See below for details. For more specific visitor information, please see the park's website. Additionally you can view park webcams.

Campfires are not allowed in the backcountry of Glacier National Park. Campfires are still allowed in developed campgrounds that have park-provided concrete or metal fire rings.

Closures: The Thompson Fire has prompted closure of some trails and back country campsites on the west side of the Continental Divide in the vicinities of the Nyack and Thompson drainages. Similar closures were also included on the east-side of the Continental Divide in the vicinities of the Cut Bank and Two Medicine drainages. Forest System trail 156 (Granite Creek Trail). From the trailhead at the terminus of FS Road 9634 to the junction of Trail 155 (the Big River Trail) due to the Granite Fire.

There may be additional trail closures in the area if fire activity increases. For updated information on trail status, click HERE. Specific closures are listed at the end of this Fact Sheet.

Categories: Glacier National Park, North Central Montana News, Outdoors, Tourism, Wildfire Updates, Wildlife