NPS/R.E. Marble Almost every year of Glacier National Park’s existence, there has been a fire. For the most part, these are small—but not always. Intense fire years are rare, but often become legendary in local memory and in park history.
Map of Fire HistoryThe park and its surroundings are a patchwork of recent and historic burns, which contribute to rich biodiversity. You may be surprised to see how much of the park has experienced fire over the years.
Learn about some notable fire years in Glacier in the timeline below, and explore the fire history map to see if you can find fires from different years back to 1910. Click on a fire footprint to see its name and year. Darker colors are more recent fires. Glacier Fire History Timeline1910 was a historic fire year in the Northern Rockies, when three million acres of forest burned during just a few days in August. 87 people died, and entire towns were destroyed. 120,000 acres burned in Glacier, largely in the North Fork and in the southern part of the park. Firebrand Pass is named for flaming branches, called firebrands, that came flying over the pass on strong winds during these fires. Buffalo Soldiers, African-American units of the Army, were assigned to help with these fires in Glacier and throughout the Northern Rockies. Learn more about the Buffalo Soldiers’ work in national parks. 
Courtesy Glacier National Park Archives and the Montana History Portal The 1920s were challenging fire years in Glacier. Fires in 1926 were so expensive that they almost bankrupted the young National Park Service. The NPS had to close some smaller park units because of the cost of fire suppression here in Glacier. 1929 brought the Half Moon Fire, which burned dramatically from Columbia Falls up into the park, burning through West Glacier (then called Belton) all the way to Apgar. Read an account of the Half Moon Fire’s blowup here, written by early fire scientist Harry Gisborne (pages 10-11). 1936 brought the Heavens Peak Fire, which started in the forest below Heaven’s Peak. It burned up and over Swiftcurrent Pass during a late August night and into the Many Glacier valley, pushed by strong winds. A valiant effort by park and hotel workers saves the Many Glacier Hotel, but many other buildings in the valley are destroyed. Read the full story. 
NPS Photo Only 27,000 acres burned in 1988, but the Red Bench Fire is memorable for burning several structures around the historic Polebridge area, just outside the park. This fire started on the Flathead National Forest to the west, then strong winds blew it into the park during a dramatic run. This occurred against the backdrop of the Yellowstone fires of 1988, which were covered intensely by national media and shaped fire policy for years to come. Just as parks were starting to accept some fires playing their natural role, the events of 1988 brought full suppression back for a time. Learn more about the Yellowstone fires.
In 1994, a small fire started in a remote part of the North Fork during a busy fire season. It was called the Howling Fire. Managers thought it could do some good, ecologically, and computer models suggested it had a low chance of spreading toward the villages of Apgar and West Glacier. The Howling Fire ended up being one of the first cases of so-called “fire use,” where a fire was managed by staff dedicated to keeping the fire on the landscape, rather than putting it out. This fire led to longterm changes in the policies, terminology, and staffing that allowed fire to exist in national parks. Read more about its significance in this report from some of the key people involved at the time. 2003 was an infamous fire year in Glacier. 136,000 acres burned, which is almost 15% of the park (more if you only include the forested area). Many areas of the park had fires burning for several weeks, but two intense incidents unfolded in late July. The Trapper Fire, which was burning near Flattop Mountain, made a dramatic run past the Loop, burning some abandoned cars, and toward the Granite Park Chalet. Guests and hikers sheltered in the chalet, while park maintenance staff and others set up water pumps and efforts to save the building. The fire ended up burning right up to and around the chalet, but the building was spared. Hear Mike Sanger, one of the maintenance staff who helped save the Chalet, tell his story in an episode from Season One of Headwaters, called Confluence | Lake McDonald. Listen on Apple podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. Later that same week, the Robert Fire started picking up. It was moving fast—toward Apgar Village, West Glacier, and park headquarters—with no end to the hot and smoky weather in sight. The incident management team in charge of the fire proposed a “burnout operation” on Apgar Mountain. If executed correctly, it would burn the forest ahead of the fire in a controlled manner, depriving it of fuel and slowing or stopping its advance. The burnout was lit using helicopters that dropped incendiary “ping-pong balls” from the air to safely and quickly spread fire over a large area. And the tactic worked—the villages and park headquarters were saved. Read firsthand accounts of the 2003 fires here, or explore a photo gallery of the 2003 fire season. 
NPS Photo Explore images and videos from these fires on Glacier's flickr page. Ecologists are comparing the forests’ recovery from the 2017 Sprague Fire, which burned an older forest, with the recovery from the 2018 Howe Ridge Fire, which re-burned a forest just recovering from the 2003 Robert Fire. As the climate warms, more frequent fires will affect many areas of Glacier—and forests around the world. Their research examines what forests in Glacier and beyond might look like in the future. Hear more about this work in the Headwaters episode “Climate and the Future of Forests with Dr. Tyler Hoecker" on Apple podcasts or on any podcast platform.
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Last updated: November 13, 2024