Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect the slide was near the Crystal Springs rest area between Burgess Junction and Dayton, not the Crystal Creek rest area.
Folks in northern Wyoming are dealing with more aftermath from last fall’s Elk Fire, which burned nearly 100,000-acres, as heavy rains are causing mud and rocks to flow down onto local roads.
A section of U.S. Highway 14 in the Bighorn Mountains was closed overnight Tuesday after a debris flow covered both lanes and damaged nearby infrastructure.
The debris flow happened around 6 p.m. Tuesday near the Crystal Springs Rest Area at mile marker 75 on the eastern side of the Bighorn Mountains between Burgess Junction and Dayton. It’s been a particularly problematic area since the fire last fall.
“Our geology group out of Cheyenne has been monitoring that since last fall,” Laura Dalles, senior public relations specialist with the Wyoming Department of Transportation, told Cowboy State Daily. “We weren’t surprised to see a debris flow in that area.”
The highway was reopened by Wednesday morning after WYDOT and personnel from the Dayton Volunteer Fire Department spent most of the night clearing the mud and rocks from the road.
However, the area remains at risk for further impacts to the highway over the next few days, Dalles said.
“Our crews are going to be out there continuing with some cleanup and repairs along the shoulders and right of way,” Dalles said. “The traveling public should be aware that we will have one-lane traffic intermittently with traffic control until the maintenance is complete.”
A Problem Spot
WYDOT, the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies have expected debris flows in the Bighorn Mountains in the aftermath of the Elk Fire. The lightning-strike wildfire burned 98,352 acres between late September and late October before being extinguished by snowfall.
The Crystal Creek Rest Area has been a particular point of concern. Dalles said Elk Fire burned “extremely hot” in this area, which increases the risk of debris flows.
“It’s a pretty significant slope that was pretty much sterilized by the fire,” she said. “There’s not a lot of holding materials in place, whether it’s soil or trees, and gravity is not our friend up there.”
Precipitation from an evening thunderstorm triggered Tuesday’s event by saturating the barren soil, causing large rocks and trees to slide down the steep slope. Dalles said this wasn’t the first debris flow at Crystal Creek, but was the most significant since the Elk Fire.
“We've had a few previous incidents throughout this spring and early summer, but nothing to the extent of what we had last night,” she said. “We cleared a little debris that came down at the same spot this spring, but there was a significant amount more from this debris flow.”
The Crystal Creek Rest Area is likely to remain a problematic area for many years. Until native vegetation can restore itself on the slope and keep the soil and debris in place, there’s a high chance of future debris flows that could impact traffic.
“It’s my understanding that until we can get some regrowth back to hold in moisture in, there is the potential that any debris flow could impact U.S. Highway 14 this summer and in future years,” Dalles said.
Didn’t ‘Cook The Forest Floor’
From the ground and the air, the massive swaths of charred trees and soil in the path of the Elk Fire look worse than they actually are. Assessments by the U.S. Forest Service have shown that the damage was mostly superficial, which is a positive overall outcome.
“Some areas didn't burn, some areas burned to some severity, and some areas burned with a great deal of severity,” said Jeff Barron, fire chief for the Tongue River Fire District-Ranchester, in December. “But that heat didn’t stick around long enough to take away the organic mass underneath the surface.”
Barron said the Elk Fire didn’t have much “residence time” in most of the area it burned. The flames torched everything at the surface, but weren’t hot enough to penetrate the organic layers of soil under the surface.
While the fire’s impact varied across the nearly 100,000-acre expanses, the overall assessment indicated that it didn’t burn hot enough to affect the area's future ecological health. Barron saw this as a reason for optimism for the area’s future recovery.
“The fire didn’t have the time to sit and cook the forest floor,” Barron said in assessing the aftermath. “When a forest fire can stay in an area, it can burn into the trees' roots and travel through them. That’s when you lose much of the organic matter under the soil.”
Crystal Creek was one of the few areas where the Elk Fire burned with enough intensity to cause deeper damage to the landscape. That’s why WYDOT has been monitoring the area since the fire.
It’s what WYDOT officials have expected since the Elk Fire burned nearly 100,000 acres in the Bighorn Mountains last fall. Heavy rain caused a mud and rockslide, closing a section of U.S. Highway 14 overnight Tuesday. More debris flows could follow. (Courtesy Laura Dalles, Wyoming Department of Transportation) 
It’s what WYDOT officials have expected since the Elk Fire burned nearly 100,000 acres in the Bighorn Mountains last fall. Heavy rain caused a mud and rockslide, closing a section of U.S. Highway 14 overnight Tuesday. More debris flows could follow. (Courtesy Laura Dalles, Wyoming Department of Transportation) 
It’s what WYDOT officials have expected since the Elk Fire burned nearly 100,000 acres in the Bighorn Mountains last fall. Heavy rain caused a mud and rockslide, closing a section of U.S. Highway 14 overnight Tuesday. More debris flows could follow. (Courtesy Laura Dalles, Wyoming Department of Transportation) 
It’s what WYDOT officials have expected since the Elk Fire burned nearly 100,000 acres in the Bighorn Mountains last fall. Heavy rain caused a mud and rockslide, closing a section of U.S. Highway 14 overnight Tuesday. More debris flows could follow. (Courtesy Laura Dalles, Wyoming Department of Transportation)
‘Johnny On The Spot’
WYDOT continues to clear and assess the section of U.S. Highway 14. Dalles said crews will need a few days to repair the damage caused by the debris flow.
“They’re still getting debris off the shoulder,” she said. “I was also told the base of the guardrail was washed out, so we’ll have to do some work on that.”
Anyone traveling on U.S. Highway 14 between Lovell and Burgess Junction should anticipate intermittent one-lane traffic with traffic control until WYDOT finishes its work.
The Crystal Creek Rest Area hasn’t been much of a rest area since the Elk Fire. The pullout has been blocked since last fall, and the U.S. Forest Service removed the portable toilets that had previously been there due to the ongoing risk of debris flows.
Dalles said WYDOT will continue monitoring the area and will have crews working at Crystal Creek for the next few days. Whenever there’s another debris flow, they’ll be ready to quickly respond to clear the highway and keep traffic flowing.
“Whether it’s snow, soil or other debris, we’re going to be ‘Johnny-on-the-spot’ with equipment and crews getting that road cleared and accessible to traffic,” she said.
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
