Post by Okwes on Aug 10, 2006 12:25:06 GMT -5
As Temperatures Rise, Red Eagle Fire Expected to Move South and West
By Courtney Lowery, 8-06-06
The Red Eagle fire burning on Blackfeet Tribal and park lands on the eastern edge of Glacier National Park grew 500 acres Saturday to a total of 27,000. The fire is creeping and smoldering a little, fire information officer Karen Semple said Sunday morning. Movement is expected to the south and west in the Upper Divide Creek, Red Eagle Creek and Hudson Bay Creek areas within park boundaries. The fire is about 50 percent contained.
The cold front that moved in Friday and Saturday lowered the temperatures and raised the humidity for a bit, and crews took advantage, but with temperatures heading back up and humidity levels down, they may be in for a long week. The fire team is expecting extreme fire behavior today, even with very light winds.
As of Wednesday night, evacuations at St. Mary village were lifted all of the Going to the Sun Road was reopened. By Friday afternoon, all of Highway 89 was reopened with reduced speed limits and one-lane due to construction and rehab work there.
Cut Bank Creek Campground on the south side of the fire and the surrounding trails and the backcountry campground near there are still closed. Park Superintendent Mick Holm Wednesday ordered new restrictions on campfires in the park, prohibiting all campfires and smoking in the backcountry as well as the frontcountry campgrounds at Quartz Creek and Cut Bank Creek if it reopens.
Primarily, the most active part of the fire has been the northeastern side, where at least 18 ranch homes, cattle grazing property and cultural sites are threatened on tribal lands. Terrain there is rugged and in places inaccessible, so now that crews have the western and northern flanks near St. Mary village contained, the focus has been on that head of the fire to the east.
The fire has burned one unoccupied trailer and two empty cabins on the eastern side.
About 56 percent (14815 acres) of the fire is on Blackfeet Tribal Trust Lands, 44 percent (11,640 acres) is within Glacier National Park, and less than 1 percent (45 acres) is on private land within the Blackfeet Nation. The estimated fire perimeter is more than 52 miles.
There are just under 600 people on the fire.
So far, suppression efforts have cost over $2.5 million.
By Courtney Lowery, 8-06-06
The Red Eagle fire burning on Blackfeet Tribal and park lands on the eastern edge of Glacier National Park grew 500 acres Saturday to a total of 27,000. The fire is creeping and smoldering a little, fire information officer Karen Semple said Sunday morning. Movement is expected to the south and west in the Upper Divide Creek, Red Eagle Creek and Hudson Bay Creek areas within park boundaries. The fire is about 50 percent contained.
The cold front that moved in Friday and Saturday lowered the temperatures and raised the humidity for a bit, and crews took advantage, but with temperatures heading back up and humidity levels down, they may be in for a long week. The fire team is expecting extreme fire behavior today, even with very light winds.
As of Wednesday night, evacuations at St. Mary village were lifted all of the Going to the Sun Road was reopened. By Friday afternoon, all of Highway 89 was reopened with reduced speed limits and one-lane due to construction and rehab work there.
Cut Bank Creek Campground on the south side of the fire and the surrounding trails and the backcountry campground near there are still closed. Park Superintendent Mick Holm Wednesday ordered new restrictions on campfires in the park, prohibiting all campfires and smoking in the backcountry as well as the frontcountry campgrounds at Quartz Creek and Cut Bank Creek if it reopens.
Primarily, the most active part of the fire has been the northeastern side, where at least 18 ranch homes, cattle grazing property and cultural sites are threatened on tribal lands. Terrain there is rugged and in places inaccessible, so now that crews have the western and northern flanks near St. Mary village contained, the focus has been on that head of the fire to the east.
The fire has burned one unoccupied trailer and two empty cabins on the eastern side.
About 56 percent (14815 acres) of the fire is on Blackfeet Tribal Trust Lands, 44 percent (11,640 acres) is within Glacier National Park, and less than 1 percent (45 acres) is on private land within the Blackfeet Nation. The estimated fire perimeter is more than 52 miles.
There are just under 600 people on the fire.
So far, suppression efforts have cost over $2.5 million.