HOT SPRINGS – The latest update from the Garden Creek Fire that’s burning near the town of Hot Springs shows the blaze has jumped to an estimated 1,842 acres burned.
Sanders County Wildland Fire Information reports in a Facebook post that the blaze grew substantially over the last 24 hours with most of the fire activity occurring to the south and east.
The fire is now burning in several small drainages on Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribal land and burned actively overnight with the fire spotting up to a ¼ mile.
One structure was successfully protected on the east side of the fire last night, and no others are threatened at this time.
This lightning-caused Garden Creek fire started on July 29th and is currently only about 5% contained.
Personnel from the CSKT Division of Fire and a Type 3 Incident Management Team continue work on the fire burning near Coney Peak at elevations above 5,000 feet in steep and rocky terrain.
Most of Sanders County remains under Stage I Fire Restrictions and fire officials say that Stage II Fire Restrictions may be implemented later this week.
The following roads have been closed in the vicinity of the Garden Creek fire:
- HS-4000 road
- HS-5000 road
- HS-1000 road at the HS-5030 junction to the north of the fire
- HS-1000 road at the McGinnis road junction to the south of the fire.
