With Elk Fire 73% Contained, Locals Try To Reclaim “Some Level Of Normal”

Nearly four weeks ago, the Elk Fire exploded by nearly 20,000 acres across the eastern face of the Bighorn Mountains in northern Wyoming and right toward the small town of Dayton.

It didn’t take long for the out-of-control blaze to push toward nearby Parkman, threatening both rural towns.

That prompted local authorities to scramble door-to-door telling people to quickly pack their bare necessities and be ready to evacuate.

They ultimately never had to, although many others in the area did.

Fast-forward almost a month later and not only aren’t people’s homes being threatened anymore by what’s grown to be a nearly 97,000-acre late-season wildfire, firefighting crews are now using words terms like “full containment” and “damage assessment.”

“The crews are doing an awesome job and now doing a lot of repair work,” said Amanda Fry, spokesperson for Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1 in charge of fighting the Elk Fire. “They’ve been making good progress every day.”

A lot of progress, especially over the last nine days since a major winter storm brought some much-needed rain and snow to the region.

And as of Saturday morning, the Elk Fire is 73% contained, up significantly from just 24 hours before when it was at 58% containment.

That storm “was definitely a season-slowing event and brought in enough moisture to slow down fire growth and progression,” Fry told Cowboy State Daily.

Crews also are now able to go into the fire area to assess damage done during the ongoing firefighting effort and repair it, she said.

“Our team’s big focus is to continue to shore up those containment lines so that as things continue to dry out in the future,” the fire doesn’t go past those lines, Fry said.

While it may seem like the Elk Fire is no longer be a threat, it’s not out, she said.

“Containment doesn’t mean the fire’s out, but it does mean we’ve established dozer lines and fire breaks so the fire won’t go beyond that perimeter,” she said.

Aftermath

A month can be a short stretch of time, but for folks living in the shadow of the Elk Fire, it’s been a long test of their emotions and fortitude.

“It’s only been a couple weeks since the snow and rain actually hit, and that changed things drastically and made a huge change,” said Patricia Caywood, owner of the Parkman Bar and Grill. “The smoke has cleared out, the anxiety levels have gone down drastically — at least mine did.”

After unseasonably dry, hot and windy weather fanned the wildfire into a dangerous inferno, it’s a relief to not have the threat of “your whole livelihood” burning hanging overhead, she told Cowboy State Daily.

“It’s amazing when Mother Nature decides not to have a temper tantrum,” Caywood said.

The harsh reality, however, is that although the fire is nearly contained and not a danger to locals now, it’s already claimed the land and means of support of many.

“I never thought I’d see anything like that in my lifetime, just to see your livelihood going up in smoke and flames, and it’s scary,” Fry said. “Most of us weren’t directly impacted, but there were some who were.

“Two people lost their homes, some lost their cabins and some lost a lot of their land. Their winter pastures are gone and their summer pastures on the mountain are gone.”

Different Feel

It will likely take years for the nearly 100,000 acres burned by the Elk Fire to regenerate, including large blackened sections of the mountain face.

“You can even see it now,” said Caywood while looking at the Bighorns outside her home. “You can already see that it’s not the same. It’s unfortunate what you don’t see anymore.

“It’s not the green, lush mountain we always sat on our deck and looked out.”

While there’s a lot of sadness about what was lost, especially those people who depend on land that’s supported their families for generations, there’s also a deep pride to feel as well, Caywood said.

“Especially for those hillbilly hotshots in my area. I have to give them the biggest shout-out,” she said, referring to locals who equip themselves with mobile water tanks and often are the first to help their neighbors when fire’s bearing down on them.

“They don’t want to be recognized or anything, and they wouldn’t call themselves heroes,” she said. “They did it because that’s what they do.”

Also without the “amazing” efforts of local volunteer firefighters and the incident management teams, she said the Elk Fire could have been much worse.

Now life is finally getting back to focusing on something other than the fire, Caywood said. “The cowboys up north are back to doing their cowboy work now, and we’re all trying to get back some level of normal.”

What About The Pack Trail Fire?

The Oct. 17-18 winter storm that turned the tide on the Elk Fire also helped firefighting crews turn a corner on the Pack Trail Fire burning west of Dubois in the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

As of Saturday, the fire is closing in on 90,000 acres in size, but has reached 70% confinement.

And as they are on the Elk Fire, crews are beginning to do repair work along with shoring up their confinement areas.

“Precipitation and cold temperatures continue to aid suppression efforts on the fire,” the incident management team reports. “Helicopters are being utilized in the backcountry to backhaul unnecessary equipment and supplies.”

Contract Greg Johnson at greg@cowboystatedaily.com

Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.