Evacuations for folks potentially in the path of the Silver Spoon Fire north of Recluse in northeast Wyoming have been lifted as fire crews seem to have an upper hand on getting control of the 1,721-acre wildfire.
The evacuations were first ordered Sunday morning after the fire was discovered included anyone living within a 10-mile radius of Bitter Creek Road near Anderson Draw. Those people can return home.
And although the fire remains 0% contained, it’s under control, said Brandon Glenn, operations section chief for Southwest Area Incident Management Team 5, which took over management of the fire Monday afternoon.
Now the focus is “just mopping up the good work that the initial attack folks did,” he said in an operational update. “They were able to basically catch that fire and in that first shift do some burning out and lock it in, so now it’s just a mop-up show.”
That initial attack came from the Campbell County Fire Department, locals and other agencies that sent help.
Now the focus is achieving containment while going into the burn area and take out any hot spots. The fire’s been burning through a mix of short grass, brush and some timber.
“Today, crews are going to continue assessing that perimeter and those containment lines, go into the interior and look for those hot spots and extinguish them, if they find them,” said Margaret Miller, spokeswoman for Team 5.
Hot And Dry
Overall, Team 5 is working five Wyoming wildfires that have burned nearly 450,000 acres in northeast Wyoming and southern Montana. Those include:
• Silver Spoon Fire: 1,721 acres, 0% contained, north of Recluse.
• Flat Rock Fire: 52,421 acres, 78% contained, west of Gillette.
• Constitution Fire: 24,630 acres, 95% contained, north of Gillette.
• House Draw Fire: 174,547 acres, 94% contained, east of Buffalo.
• Remington Fire: 196,368 acres, 86% contained, northeast of Sheridan; 30,000 acres in Wyoming and 166,368 in southern Montana.
Between the five fires, Team 5 has 547 personnel, including 10 crews of firefighters; 57 engines; 14 water tenders; and a mix of other heavy equipment, Miller said.
And despite record heat and low humidity in the area, the weather is “always a factor,” but hasn’t exacerbated the fires the past couple of days, she said.
Sheridan set a record Monday with a high temperature of 101 degrees, beating the old record for Sept. 2 of 100 degrees set in 1940, said Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day.
Along with heat comes low humidity, which is normal for this time of year, Day said.
“It’s very warm with low humidity, and having low humidity this time of year is expected,” he said. “Humidity is just rock bottom. The rule of thumb: The lower the humidity the hotter it can get.
“But some better weather is coming in the next couple of days. They are cooling off and there’s chances for rain (the rest of the week). It will be 70s and 80s tomorrow and Thursday.”
Fish Creek Fire
On the western side of Wyoming, the Fish Creek Fire continues to burn in heavy timber in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
It’s prompted officials to close Togwotee Pass and evacuate the historic Brooks Lake Lodge and surrounding subdivisions.
It also is growing slowly as crews make more progress on getting 100% control of it, the Wyoming State Division of Forestry reports.
It grew about 2,500 acres Monday from about 13,000 to 15,506 acres. It's reported 54% complete as of Tuesday evening.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
