Montana Park Wildfire Forces Evacuations
The blaze jumped a road on Sunday afternoon and started heading toward the area around Lake McDonald, fire managers said.
The area is about 10 miles northeast of West Glacier, the park's gateway town that had been threatened by the fire for more than a week in late July and early August. Residents there were permitted to return home Aug. 3. The fire has already burned 36,600 acres.
Fire information officer Jim Lane said initial reports had flames shooting 200 feet in the air.
Authorities decided Sunday to evacuate the Lake McDonald Lodge, three campgrounds along the lake, some area homes and an area on the northwest side of the lake to McDonald Creek. Park officials also ordered the temporary evacuation Monday of Apgar Village, a popular tourist destination that is home to a lodge and several shops.
It wasn't immediately known how many people were evacuated.
Heavy smoke forced the temporary closure of the Going-to-the-Sun Road, which reopened to visitors last week after being closed since July 24. Visitors had lined up 100 vehicles deep to take advantage of the opportunity to drive across the park.
A second fire in the park, which had been 70 percent contained, also grew Sunday by nearly 2,000 acres to 27,525 acres.
A fire that began with a lightning strike near the small town of Big Timber, 150 miles east of Helena, grew to about 30,000 acres and forced the evacuation of some 50 homes, fire information officers said Monday.
The National Interagency Fire Center said 18 new large fires were reported Sunday in the Northern Rockies and Eastern Great Basin, many apparently sparked by lightning strikes days ago and just now growing to the point that they can be spotted.
The wildfire coordinating agency said 1.99 million acres have burned so far this season, compared with 2.88 million acres on average to this date.
In Idaho, a wildfire that had swelled to more than 37,000 acres stalled about two miles from the Montana border, fire information officer Jim Ballard said. The fire was contained Monday.
A fast-moving Wyoming wildfire temporarily closed a section of the main north-south highway through Grand Teton National Park and prompted the evacuation of up to 300 people from a campground.
No one was injured and no structures were threatened, park spokeswoman Joan Anzelmo said. The Gros Ventre campground was expected to remain closed at least until Monday.