East section of Glacier Park’s Sun Road may open soon

Reynolds Creek Fire Perimeter August 3, 2015
Reynolds Creek Fire Perimeter August 3, 2015 – click for bigger version

Reynolds Creek Fire crews are starting to give priority to getting the eastern section of Going-to-the-Sun-Road re-opened . . .

Glacier Park Superintendent Jeff Mow said Wednesday that he expects the east side of the Going-the-Sun Road will open soon to vehicle traffic. “It should open easily within a week, unless something dramatic changes,” he said.

The road was closed from Logan Pass to St. Mary on July 21 due to the Reynolds Creek Fire. But firefighters now have the fire nearly 70 percent contained and firefighting efforts have centered on the road corridor itself, as crews continue to remove hundreds of hazard trees and hit hot spots along the highway.

The fire burned very hot along some sections of the highway. The fire, by western standards, isn’t very big — about 4,000 acres, but its influence was largely along an eight-mile stretch of the highway, from roughly Deadwood Falls to Two Dog Creek.

Read more . . .