DUBOIS — The Fish Creek Fire made a run at a crew of 85 firefighters, who worked overnight Tuesday to hold the line at Highway 26/287 on a 17,912-acre fire that is continuing to grow in size and by Wednesday evening was just 1-2 miles from the historic Brooks Lake Lodge.
“There were like 50 spot fires that hit,” Dubois Police Chief Rob Latape said he was told during a Wednesday update on the status of the fire. “A lot of them were the size of a dinner plate, but some were as big as a 10th of an acre.”
That 10th of an acre spot fire was doused with a drop bucket from a helicopter, which dumped 900 gallons of water on the fire at once, Northern Rockies Incident Management Complex Team Fire Information Officer Christopher Joyner told Cowboy State Daily on Wednesday afternoon.
The main push the fire made was actually from 2-5 p.m. Tuesday, Joyner said, but there were challenges throughout what was a very long night for firefighters on the scene.
“They had multiple spot fires,” Joyner said. “But the bigger one was in the daytime push.”
Firefighters will be on scene 24/7 for the foreseeable future working in shifts to ensure all the bases are covered, Joyner said.
In the meantime, Highway 26/287 remains closed because of the close proximity of the fire and excessive smoke. Also, evacuation orders for the Brooks Lake Lodge and nearby subdivisions remains in effect.
Embers Easily Blowing A Mile Away
Spot fires are typically caused by embers blown by the wind, which were carrying at least a mile away, according to reports Latape heard Wednesday, and which Joyner confirmed.
With Brooks Lake Lodge now only about 1.5 miles from the fire at the nearest point, that’s way too close for comfort for General Manager Mathew Tousigant.
Tuesday afternoon at 2Z’s Barbecue with Cowboy State Daily, he was switching between two different fire apps, as well as outdoor webcams at Brooks Lake Lodge, trying to keep tabs on where exactly the fire is and what is happening.
The apps were frustrating, though, because they weren’t always being updated in real time.
“This one doesn’t show a single hot spot,” he said, shaking his head. “And that’s not true at all.”
Despite feeling like he’s on pins and needles, Tousignant said he continues to be grateful for all the efforts firefighters have made at Brooks Lake Lodge, hardening structures and setting up a sprinkler system to keep any firebrands from landing and taking hold there.
An elite firefighting team, one of 44 in the nation, has been moved on scene to help protect several critical assets, including Brooks Lake Lodge, homes on Pinnacle and Breccia drives, and guardrail posts that cost $1,000 each to place.
“We do feel confident in what they’re doing,” Tousignant said. “But the fire is still growing, and we still have that sinking pit, you know. So, it’s hard. We do wish (the firefighters) safety first and foremost.”
Latape said he has been up to look at the setup at Brooks Lake Lodge and he feels confident about what the team is doing there.
“It doesn’t look like there’s any way they’re going to let those structures go,” he said. “It looks like they will protect those at all costs. They’ve got it down to a science.”
More Fire Lines Being Laid
Infrared mapping last showed Fish Creek fire at 17,912 acres, a 2,000-acre jump over the last report.
But the infrared mapping was hampered by excessive cloud cover Tuesday night. Joyner said the fire has grown more than the numbers now reflect.
Infrared mapping will be tried again overnight Wednesday and updated accordingly, if successful.
Wednesday’s fire work focused mainly on the eastern flank of the fire, Joyner said, establishing what are called “black lines” along County Road 537.
Black lines refer to burning up all the fuel in an area so that when the fire gets there, nothing is left to burn.
The area where the black lines have been set had enough fuel “to test the containment of the fire,” Joyner said.
“But now we’ve created an area where the fire has nothing left to burn,” he said.
A ribbon of fire is now burning right up to the side of Highway 26, Joyner said, and it is pumping out a thick blanket of smoke that’s covering the area, including the road itself.
Firefighters have staged on Highway 26 itself and are working to keep the fire south of the highway.
“Visibility is incredibly short,” Joyner said. “The roads will remain closed probably or a while.”
It’s not known how long the fire will continue to burn at this point, Joyner added. The standing dead pine beetle wood is incredibly hot, but slow burning. If there’s a silver lining to the fire at this point, it’s the fact that the finer fuels, such as dead brown grasses, which can move fires along incredibly quickly, are so far unavailable.
“Most of (the finer fuels) are still alive,” Joyner said. “It has 30% or higher moisture and so is not available to burn. So right now, where the fire is burning, it’s just the really big stuff.”
Rain Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon have helped take the edge off some of the fire’s intensity, Joyner added, but have not been enough to stop the fire from burning. It would take several inches of rain to have an appreciable effect on putting the fire out.
“Some of those dry bug-kill trees, I mean you could almost have a water hose on that, and it’s still going to keep burning,” Latape said. “That’s how dry it is.”
Other Wyoming Fires
In northeast Wyoming and Southern Montana, crews are making progress on a number of large wildfires that have burned nearly 450,000 acress.
• Silver Spoon Fire: 1,721 acres, 63% contained, north of Recluse.
• Flat Rock Fire: 52,421 acres, 97% 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, 88% contained, northeast of Sheridan; 30,000 acres in Wyoming and 166,368 in southern Montana.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
