The Hay Creek Fire located four miles west of Polebridge stands at 1,158 acres and is zero percent contained as of Sunday, according to a Flathead National Forest update.
The update said calmer winds led to less fire spread on Saturday, and the fire slowly backed down to the Hay Creek Road. Two helicopters dropped water to help control fire spread, including on a new spot fire of lower intensity. Existing roads and timber units were tied together with dozer line to provide additional protection in the area of the Moran Basin Road #5241.
On Sunday, resources will continue to reinforce shaded fuel breaks and use heavy equipment to tie together existing roads and fuel breaks to limit future fire growth. Crews will also identify needs for possible structure protection.
The Flathead County Sheriff's Office expanded an evacuation warning for the area on Saturday. Glacier National Park has additionally issued an evacuation warning for the North Fork area of Glacier National Park north of Logging Creek.
The Hay Creek Fire was first reported last Wednesday evening, July 21. It is burning in the Hay Creek drainage in the North Fork area of the Flathead National Forest and is being managed by a Type 3 Incident Management Team under a full suppression strategy using aviation resources and indirect tactics.
The Flathead National Forest will implement Stage 2 fire restrictions at 12:01 a.m. Monday, July 26.
