From the Sunday, July 30, 2006 online edition of the Daily Inter Lake . . .
A wildfire burning in Glacier National Park blew up Saturday, prompting the evacuation of the St. Mary housing and maintenance areas after the fire jumped U.S. 89 south of St. Mary.
The fire was spotted Friday afternoon and originally burned about 8 miles southwest of St. Mary. Down-canyon wind shifts sparked the fire’s growth Saturday afternoon. Commercial property, residences and outbuildings are threatened.
At noon Saturday the fire was estimated at 765 acres, “but it has grown dramatically since then,” said Pat McKelvey, information officer with a specialized management team that arrived Saturday and was scheduled to take command of the fire Sunday morning.
Residents leaving St. Mary are asked to check in at the Cut Bank Creek Boarding School, 5 miles north of Browning, to let officials know they have left the St. Mary area. A shelter will be set up at the school.
Going-to-the-Sun Road is closed from the St. Mary entrance to Rising Sun. Visitors can still enter the park at other locations, and the Sun Road is open from the west entrance to Rising Sun.
The Montana Department of Transportation has closed U.S. 89 from Cut Bank Creek to Duck Lake Road.
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