Wildfire reroutes Glacier National Park tourists

Marking the first major wildfire to hit Glacier in almost a decade, the blaze has charred roughly 4,000 acres since igniting on Tuesday near a popular hiking spot, , and continued as of Thursday to defy firefighters’ attempts to contain it, officials said. Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow speaks to the crowd during a public information meeting regarding the wildfires in the national park Friday, July 24, 2015, in St. Mary, Mont. State Rep. Jenny Eck, who was hosting a delegation from Australia on a tour o…

By MATT VOLZ and KRISTIN J.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Hotels and campgrounds in Glacier National Park are flooded with calls from anxious tourists canceling their reservations or asking whether the Montana landmark will stay open as a wildfire sweeps through a popular part of the park. Park officials shuttled visitors to safety and scoured the backcountry for hikers in the fire zone.

Brooke said 688 people were in the campground when the fire ignited Tuesday afternoon about 6 miles east of Logan Pass. Word of the fire began to circulate as people returned from the pass and others checked the Internet, and soon the plume of smoke could be seen in the distance.

National Park Service officials closed the eastern side of the scenic Going-to-the-Sun Road, a nearly 50-mile roadway that runs through the park.

Glacier County authorities ordered additional evacuations as a precaution for homes near the small community of St. Mary at the park’s eastern boundary.

“People started to panic and started leaving immediately”, she said. Almost 700,000 people visited the park in July last year, and about 95 percent of them traveled a few length of the roadway. The National Park Service employee housing and administrative areas for non-essential personnel have also been evacuated.

Firefighters stunted the growth of a wildfire burning near Northern California’s Napa Valley wine country as evacuated residents from some of the 200 threatened homes were allowed to return home Thursday night.

Bryan Campbell said he remained hopeful that his brother’s ranch was still standing Thursday after the wildfire forced them and their neighbors to evacuate 85 horses.

“I think what we’re offering visitors is a completely different experience throughout the park”, Germann told The Associated Press on Friday.

“We are expecting a little more wind today, so that does create a new challenge”, said Katie Liming, spokeswoman for the team handling the fire. “As long as the winds don’t pick up, we’re hoping everything will be fine”.

The fire has shut US Highway 50 in both directions between Sacramento and Reno, Nevada.

Crews fighting a wildfire in southeast Washington are working to prevent flames from reaching a watershed that provides drinking water for the city of Walla Walla. It was human-caused and is under investigation, officials said.

Bender reported from San Francisco.