A complex incident management team out of California has been assigned to take over management of the Pack Trail Fire, which is now approaching 18,000 acres consumed as of Tuesday.
The fire in the Bridger-Teton and Shoshone national forests in northwest Wyoming has forced the evacuation of at least 60 homes so far, and dozens more may also have to be evacuated, according to public notices about the fire put out by the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies.
Freemont County Emergency Management Coordinator Milan Venich told Cowboy State Daily the new complex incident management team is analogous to the one that helped protect Brooks Lake Lodge and the Breccia and Pinnacle areas during the nearby Fish Creek Fire, which is 87% complete, according to the latest U.S. Forest Service report and right at 25,000 acres consumed.
“The complex incident management team is about the same size as the Northern Rockies one,” Venich said. “And I think that one, at peak, had more than 500 personnel.”
The existing team now on site for Pack Trail Fire has between 100 to 200 people, some of whom were transferred in from the Fish Creek Fire.
The California team is set to have a transfer meeting Tuesday night, with shadowing taking place Wednesday, Venich said.
“I think they take over Thursday or Friday,” he said.
Back To Square One
The resurgence of fire west of Dubois with the Pack Trail Fire, which officials believe was started by lightning Sept. 15 in a deeply forested, inaccessible area, has put the firefighting effort more or less back to square one. That’s after the Fish Creek Fire, which has already cost $28.5 million to fight.
“It was that wind that came up, it was just pretty unbelievable,” Venich said. “The wind wasn’t as violent Monday, so that allowed people to get closer, and they’ve been doing a lot of aerial work.”
Venich said firefighters are expecting much the same conditions Tuesday, with continued low relative humidity and wind gusts up to 25 mph.
“I’ve never wanted winter to come so fast,” Venich said. “Or just anything that’s got moisture on it.”
Weather forecasts are predicting that wind will pick back up Wednesday, potentially creating more red flag conditions. Venich said firefighters are focused on being ready for that.
“They’re trying to finish up some work with Fish Creek so they can move some of those assets over and start working some fire lines with this Pack Trail fire,” he said. “They had just a little bit of work to do on some fire break stuff for Fish Creek, and then they’re going to move all of that equipment around.”
Since the wind wasn’t as bad, aerial assets were able to deploy Monday, and Venich expects that will continue today. These include the small crop-duster aircraft that drops retardant, as well as the small attack helicopters that carry about 900 gallons of water.
Water was dropped in the Split Rock Creek area at the head of Two Ocean Basin to quell hot spots on Monday.
Lava Mountain Burn Scar
Pack Trail Fire is so far hanging between Lava Mountain peak and the 2016 Lava Mountain burn scar, just above Lava Mountain Lodge.
“That’s been our friend that burn scar,” Venich said.
Because fire has already burned that area out, it’s not easy for the fire to get past the large burn scar area. But it’s not impossible, either. Much depends on what the wind does.
“There’s still some dead wood standing in there,” Venich said. “But it doesn’t have the ground fuels.”
That makes it harder to catch on fire, and firefighters will try to use that to their advantage in their tactics to contain and hold the fire in place until it runs out of fuel.
Down ridge, meanwhile, crews are looking for places where the fire is likely to try and spread, and doing everything they can to be ready for higher wind Wednesday. Protection plans have been set up for structures along Highway 26, including not just Brooks Lake Lodge, but new places that are now under threat, like Lava Mountain Lodge and the old KOA campground.
Evacuation orders cover Brooks Lake Road; East and West Pinnacle Drive; Breccia Drive; U.S. Highway 26: Togwotee Pass milepost 30-42; Long Creek subdivision; Lava Mountain subdivision; Triangle C Ranch; old KOA; urban subdivisions, including Timberline Ranch and Rawhide Ranch.
Those in the “set” status, which is one step before evacuation, including Union Pass Road and Absoroka Ranch Road.
The Bourbon subdivision is in “ready” status.
Anyone in need of shelter is encouraged to call Fremont County Emergency Mangement at 307-856-2374.
Areas in both Shoshone National Forest and Bridger-Teton National Forest have been closed by the U.S. Forest Service, beginning at Togwotee Pass heading south along the Continental Divide to the intersection of Lost Creek/Leeds Creek Divide in Bridger-Teton and to the east edge of Cottonwood Creek Trail in the Shoshone Forest.
A complete closure map is available online, along with a complete description of the area in the closure order.
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
