TOM LACEKY
Associated Press Writer
WEST GLACIER, Mont. (AP) -- Crews battling a fire that has burned into Glacier National Park have new hope thanks to the arrival of one of the most effective firefighting tools: rain.
Showers fell throughout much of the day Wednesday on the 64,000-acre blaze, breaking more than two weeks of hot, dry and windy weather that favored the fire.
The rain, which also brought cooler temperatures, was not enough to stop the fire but the moisture will slow it, said Larry Humphrey, incident commander for the fire.
The fire ``might make some small runs, but it's not going to make any big runs,'' he said. ``That's just my gut feeling.''
A relieved Bill Paxton watched the rain with other fire information officers from a fire camp near the park.
``God's smiling down on us,'' he said.
By late Wednesday, the showers had turned to a steady rain. A sky that had been faded brown by smoke for days turned dark and overcast, with rain clouds overhead for the first time since the fire began on Aug. 14.
The blaze, which has burned more than 14,000 acres since crossing into the park on Friday, was about 5 percent contained Wednesday. More than 1,000 firefighters were on the job.
Forecasts Thursday called for cool temperatures and the possibility of more rain.
Elsewhere in northwestern Montana, three wilderness fires together have burned about 6,300 acres. Two fires burning in central Montana have blackened about 4,000 acres in the Little Belt Mountains.
In southwestern Montana, containment of a 26,800-acre fire was expected by Saturday, fire spokesman Tom Horner said.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, there were 17 major fires burning on more than 197,000 acres in the West on Wednesday.
