Garden Creek Fire grows to 500 acres

The Garden Creek Fire, burning on the Flathead Reservation about 2 miles north of Hot Springs, made a run Friday, Aug. 3, expanding to a total of 500 acres by Monday.

Around 114 personnel from the CSKT Division of Fire and a Type 3 Incident team reached 3 percent containment by Monday morning. The fire was burning near Coney Peak at elevations mostly above 5,000 feet.

The region experienced hot, windy conditions over the weekend that fueled the fire through timber, grass and understory causing multiple road closures in the area.

Closures include HS 4000 Road, HS 5000 Road and HS 1000 Road at the HS 5030 junction and at the McGinnis Road junction.

The fire was started by lightning on July 29 in the Garden Creek drainage. It was listed at 12 acres on Friday before growing to 501 acres.