Showers Give Hope in Fight on Wildfires

Desperately needed rain began falling Wednesday on a wildfire that burned into Glacier National Park, giving firefighters hope and breaking more than two weeks of hot, dry and windy weather that favored the fire.

“God’s smiling down on us,” Bill Paxton said as he and other fire information officers watched the rain from a fire camp in Columbia Falls, just outside the park.

But fire bosses warned that the showers were not enough to drown flames that have burned 64,000 acres in northwestern Montana, including more than 14,000 acres in the park.

Firefighters awoke to intermittent showers and cool temperatures Wednesday. “We woke up with wet pants and wet ground,” said Chadeen Palmer, a fire information officer.

By late morning, the showers had turned to a steady rain.

“This rain is going to stop the [growth] to almost nothing,” said fire information officer Bob McKinney. “It won’t put it out, but it won’t spread very much either.”

The rain and cooler temperatures were a welcome change to the more than 1,000 firefighters whose efforts to beat back the flames have been hampered by hot, dry weather and strong winds. On Labor Day, fire bosses yanked all firefighters off the lines and grounded their air attack because of high winds.

The blaze, which began outside the park Aug. 14, is still considered only about 5% contained, but crews expected to gain ground Wednesday. Forecasts through today call for more cool temperatures and the possibility of more rain.

Incident commander Larry Humphrey said forecasts indicated the area could get as much as half an inch of rain in coming days.

National Interagency Fire Center reports showed that 17 major fires were burning on more than 197,000 acres in the West on Wednesday.