'Valiant' effort couldn't save Sperry Chalet

Glacier National Park’s Sperry Chalet succumbed to a deadly combination of high winds, hot weather, low relative humidity and steep terrain that pushed the Sprague Fire to the north and east Thursday evening, causing the fire to more than double in a day to 4,646 acres.

But the story of exactly how the fire overtook the historic, two-story stone building has yet to be told.

Glacier Park issued a press release Friday afternoon, saying firefighters on scene first observed fire activity at the chalet coming from the interior of the building that contained guest rooms and staff housing.

“A highly skilled group of firefighters have been working at Sperry Chalet since the fire began in August, installing an extensive hose lay, sprinkler, and pump system to protect all of the structures associated with the chalet,” the release stated. “The firefighters, supported by four helicopters that flew until last light, made a valiant stand to save the structures. They were unsuccessful in saving the main building at the Sperry Chalet. They worked through the night to protect the four remaining structures. The firefighters are safe.”

Portions of the chalet were wrapped with fire resistant material, park officials said. The dining hall and kitchen building was spared, as were restrooms and a small maintenance building.

Fire Information Officer Diane Sine provided some insight Thursday to the Hungry Horse News. She said six firefighters battled the fire on the ground, while four helicopters were in the air with water drops, but how, exactly, the chalet caught on fire, Sine couldn’t say.

The chalet was not treated with a fire suppressant gel commonly used on homes, according to Sine. She said logistically, it is difficult to wrap a building the size of the chalet. Each roll of the fire-resistant material weighs about 100 pounds and the crew couldn’t get to the top of the two-story building.

She said using the gel also presents difficulties, as it has to be maintained and hauled to the site. It comes in buckets.

Sprinklers were in place and firefighters did wet the roof.

The walls of the chalet are stone and mortar, but the roof is wood as is the interior.

Sine said she couldn’t speak to the condition of the building or whether it was completely gutted or not.

The crew of six was replaced with a crew of 10 firefighters on the ground Friday, Sine said.

The fire has burned to Lincoln Peak, but had not spilled into the Lake Ellen Wilson Valley. It was also burning down toward Lincoln Creek, but was still about 1,000 feet above the creek itself. The fire also burned over the Snyder Lake campground.

The main threat now is the fire is on Mount Brown just below the lookout and could work downslope toward the Going-to-the-Sun Road.

Helicopters would be working that part of the fire today as well as any other areas where they’re needed, she said.

Approximately 126 personnel are assigned to the fire, including the Northern Rockies Type II Fire Management Team, one wildland fire use module, and one Type 1 helicopter, according to the InciWeb incident information system

Glacier National Park Superintendent Jeff Mow said in a press statement that the structures at Sperry Chalet are iconic historic structures that are widely loved by park employees and visitors from all over the world.

“The fire team has worked tirelessly to contain this fire and protect structures and infrastructure. The environmental conditions were absolutely extreme [Thursday], as high as anything we’ve seen so far this summer,” Mow said.

The Sprague Fire started Aug. 10and has been the No.1 fire suppression priority in the park this summer, park officials said. In addition to structural protection measures for the Sperry Chalet complex, fire managers have also put in structural protection measures at the Mount Brown Lookout. Due to the lookout’s location, a watering system or having firefighters remain on site has not been feasible. The lookout has been wrapped with fire resistant material due to its small size to provide some additional fire protection, in addition to helicopter resources. Over the last month, firefighters have also been conducting mitigations and creating structure protection plans for buildings in the Lake McDonald area.

The park has seen 20 fire starts this summer, and has employed ground and air resources to suppress them. The park has seen one new fire start in the last two days in the North Fork region of the park. Air and ground resources are now fighting that fire in addition to the Sprague Fire.

Glacier Park officials said as more details are known about the extent of damage to the main Sperry Chalet building and any fire damage to the secondary structures, the park will evaluate the next steps about future visitor services in the chalet location.

The Hungry Horse News contributed to this report.