The Remington Fire that’s burned nearly 200,000 acres in northern Wyoming and Flat Rock Fire that’s consumed more than 52,000 acres western Campbell County are each about 50% contained going into Wednesday as firefighters begin to turn the corner on a handful of large wildfires in the region.
But as those fires show progress, firefighting personnel are warning about small upstart fires from the heat and leftover fuels around the Flat Rock Fire, along with other wildfires blazing throughout Wyoming.
“With increased temperatures and fuels drying out in the area, we are hearing reports of additional fire starts,” according to the latest statement by Southwest Area Incident Management Team No. 5 on Tuesday.
The team is managing four of Wyoming’s five largest current wildfires in northeast Wyoming. Those are the Flat Rock and Constitution fires in Campbell County, the House Draw in Johnson County and the Remington Fire in Sheridan County and southern Montana.
“If you see smoke or fire outside of (these fires’) boundaries, please contact your local emergency line – 911 – and they will coordinate a response through local dispatch centers,” the statement adds.
The Meadow Fire in Campbell County is one such upstart, sparking to life and growing to about a 10th of an acre Tuesday, according to watchduty.org. That may seem tiny, but fires can grow quickly.
Crews heading to the Flat Rock Fire just south of the upstart came upon the Meadow Fire on Tuesday and were able to stop it that day, the team reported to its Facebook page.
Wyoming’s five largest wildfires were estimated Tuesday at a total of 459,560 acres altogether, or 718 square miles.
But of that, roughly 160,000 acres of the Remington Fire are blazing in Montana, not Wyoming. The fire started in rural Sheridan County, but sprinted Friday across multiple counties in southeast Montana.
Campbell County
The Flat Rock Fire west of Gillette jumped from 35% containment Monday morning to 49% Tuesday, with firefighters directly attacking the fire’s north end. That blaze has held at 52,599 acres since early Monday, after growing by nearly 11,000 acres Sunday. By Tuesday night, the Wyoming State Forestry Division was reporting containment at 54%.
It has showed moderate fire behavior as it consumed interior unburned pockets of fuel, primarily in its north flank. Air resources worked in tandem in the pinyon-juniper forests. Crews patrolled, monitored and secured fire lines Tuesday and used direct tactics on the fire’s enterprising north end.
To the northeast, the Constitution Fire remained at 24,594 Monday and Tuesday after the team estimated it at 12,080 Sunday morning. It began Tuesday at 28% containment, but was at 57% by Tuesday night, according to WSFD.
This area is smoky, with the fire chewing through pockets of unburned fuel in its perimeter.
Sheridan County
In northeast Sheridan County and southern Montana, the Remington Fire remained at 196,387 acres Tuesday night. But firefighters have made huge strides in gaining control of the huge burn area.
Containment was at 0% Monday, but by Tuesday night was at 50%, the WSFD reports.
Johnson County
The House Draw Fire in Johnson County was the first major wildfire to explode in Wyoming, burning through a large swath of grassland east of Buffalo. It quickly grew nearly 175,000 acres, but has held that estimate for the past couple of days.
Now this fire is nearly fully contained at 94%, the WSFD reports.
Fremont-Teton Counties
Near the Fremont and Teton County line, the Fish Creek Fire remains relatively unchanged size-wise at 11,397 acres Tuesday night and is at 26% completion, Chris Joyner, Northern Rockies Incident Command Team spokesman, told Cowboy State Daily.
“You may note that we are now using ‘completion’ instead of ‘containment,’” wrote Joyner in a text message. “Our goal is full suppression, but we are unable to go direct with our tactics.”
Because there are so many standing dead trees and so much beetle kill in those forests, the crews are completing indirect lines, which are at about 26% complete, he said.
Contact Clair McFarland at clair@cowboystatedaily.com
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
