A spiderweb of waterlines are positioned in and around all of the historic structures at Brooks Lake Lodge and dozens of crews from an overall incident management team of 500 firefighters have been brought to the scene to cross-train for protecting the historic Wyoming lodge.
Matthew Tousignant, general manager of the lodge, told Cowboy State Daily he is continually impressed by what he sees happening on the ground to fight the Fish Creek Fire, which has grown to 11,462 acres and is threatening the lodge in the Bridger-Teton National Forest of northwest Wyoming.
“Every time they allow me to go back up, I just see more sprinklers and more of these water tanks — they’re everywhere now,” Tousignant said. “They’re on the roofs of every building, and these sprinkler systems that they’ve just put up. It’s just really impressive.”
Steve Best, acting as public information officer for Fish Creek Fire, told Cowboy State Daily that Pinnacle’s 78-man structure-protection crew and Brook’s Lake’s 78-man crews had flip-flopped for the cross-training, to add some resilience and redundancy to the firefighting plans.
Tousignant, who was on the scene Thursday morning, said it was an impressive sight. Even more impressive was their methodical approach to all the ins and outs at the 102-year-old lodge.
“They were talking about all of the physical structures, where they’re located, and they’ve made maps of the lodge as well,” he said. “They were going over those maps and the numbering system within those sites.”
The cross-training crews also walked the property to learn exactly where everything on the maps is located and understand all the firefighting assets in play.
“They actually have hoses that go all the way down to the lake that are scattered all around the property,” Touisgnant said. “It’s a web, where there’s six sprinklers connected to this hose and two actual, directional hoses that you pick up and that is everywhere.”
Control Lines Established As Fire Nears
Fish Creek firefighting measures are now 34% “complete,” referring to the percentage of work that’s been finished for containment of the fire. This is a change from the previous reporting method where fire status was reported as a percentage of containment.
The specific method of control for the 11,420-acre Fish Creek Fire is called confine/point protection. It involves creating strategic burn confinements, as well as using natural boundaries, to keep a fire within designated areas and away from structures.
Best said that method includes setting fire to areas with fuel, to harden them against incursion by the advancing fire.
Wind has been steady from the southeast to the northwest, Tousignant said, and flareups and growth in the direction of Brooks Lake Lodge are anticipated soon.
Traffic control continues on U.S. Highway 26/287 and Togwotee Pass, and fire crews are there preemptively cutting down trees all along Hwy. 26/287 between mileposts 27 and 31.
The trees that are being removed are just those that could easily catch fire, potentially spreading embers across the highway or even falling onto the highway itself, making it difficult to get in and out of the area.
Control lines continue to be established throughout the area that’s in the path of Fish Creek Fire, and aerial firefighting resources are on scene to prevent fire from hopping over established control lines.
Structure protection crews have completed setting up and testing all pumps, hose and sprinkler lines for the Brooks, Pinnacle and the Breccia subdivisions.
Fighting A Secondary Battle On The Jobs Front
As a result of the fire, the U.S. National Forest Service has closed areas surrounding the lodge through Sept. 30. That order effectively means Brooks Lake Lodge’s summer season is finished.
That has forced Tousignant to move to a secondary battle front — helping to find alternative employment for those employees who want to continue working the rest of the season.
“It’s a blow,” Tousignant said. “And it’s really sad. My staff have come from all over the country to be here, to get this experience living and working in Wyoming, and I feel like they were robbed of that opportunity.”
Tousignant has been personally reaching out to other ranches to try and help those employees who aren’t ready to go back home find new positions.
“I can’t guarantee them the same experience,” Tousignant said. “But there are so many other places out there with jobs, and as I’ve been reaching out to other ranches, everybody is like, ‘Oh, I have a spot. Please send your people here.’”
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
