The West's wildfire woes have spread to one of America's most iconic, and endangered, national parks: Glacier National Park in Montana. The park is already considered extremely vulnerable to global warming, with receding glaciers that may force the park to change its name by the middle of this century.

Now, it is facing a wildfire that has been spreading rapidly since it began on Tuesday afternoon about six miles east of Logan Pass.

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Gusty winds have spread the blaze toward the park's eastern entrance, causing the small community of St. Mary to be evacuated along with nearby campgrounds at the height of the summer tourist season.

"We're kind of in the direct line right now," said Susan Brooke, who owns the St. Mary Glacier Park KOA. "It's raging down the ridge toward St. Mary."



The Montana fire comes at the same time as dozens of blazes continue to burn in parched California, while other fires spread in Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Alaska. The West has been unusually mild and dry for much of the year so far, with California in particular entering its fourth consecutive summer of drought conditions.

The start of the Reynolds Creek fire from the boat yesterday. As of now, our boats & the Rising Sun compound are safe. The area has been evacuated and the Going-to-the-Sun Road is closed from Avalanche to St Mary. Photo by @mcclendonp #GNP A photo posted by Glacier Park Boats (@glacierparkboats) on Jul 22, 2015 at 9:49am PDT

At Glacier National Park, "critical fire weather conditions" are forecast for Thursday, according to wildfire tracking website InciWeb, with warm temperatures, low humidity levels and strong winds that will promote the spread of fires.

As of Thursday morning, the fire had burned about 4,000 acres, and had destroyed a historic backcountry cabin.

The scenic Going-to-the-Sun Road, which is the main alpine roadway that bisects the park, was closed for 21 of its 50 miles. On Tuesday, visitors had to leave their vehicles along the park's most popular corridor as officials shuttled them to safety. One car, which was left behind, burned.

July wildfire outlook from the National Interagency Fire Center. Image: NIFC

That road is used by 95% of park visitors, as it bisects the park and crosses the Continental Divide.

Glacier National Park is currently being affected by severe drought conditions, which is not as severe as other parts of the West. In California, for example, 71% of the state is classified as being in "extreme" to "exceptional" drought by the U.S. Drought Monitor. These are the two worst categories.

Northwest Montana, where Glacier National Park is located, is also included in the "above average" category on the outlook for significant wildfires in July, as well as August and September, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.

So, this pretty much sums up our day at Glacier National Park... A photo posted by Chelsea (@chelsea_soup) on Jul 21, 2015 at 8:18pm PDT

Additional reporting by the Associated Press.