Cooler temperatures, higher humidity and intermittent rains have brought some welcome relief for the hundreds of wildland firefighters battling a pair of fires in western Wyoming.
Even so, the fires continue to grow and cause sleepless nights for area residents on edge about the potential for losing their properties and valuable winter forage on public lands.
Sandy Wright owns the Kendall Valley Lodge on the west side of the Green River. On the other side, the 13,500-acre Dollar Lake Fire continues to burn through dense forest and undergrowth.
Despite the more favorable weather, the Sierra/Nevada Team 5 wildfire incident management team in charge of the fire reports 0% containment.
While she has the river separating her business from the fire, Wright said she’s watched as the flames move closer.
“We can see the flames on top of the ridge from the lodge here now,” she told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday. “It did come over the ridge out toward the river, but it’s still on top.”
Overnight rain did make her feel a little better, Wright said, but the fallout from that was “small specks” of wet ash from the fire falling all around.
The rain “made us feel a lot better, and the ground was damp last night and this morning. It didn’t rain a whole lot, but we got some,” she said. “We’re supposed to get some more.”
It’s not enough to allow them to sleep at night knowing — and seeing — the wildfire burning just across the river, she said.
The Sierra/Nevada team reports that it’s actively protecting the nearby Red Cliff Bible Camp near Cora, which was evacuated late last week as the fire exploded from about 30 acres to nearly 2,000.
The camp and a 5-mile radius around Dollar Lake in the Green Lakes area remain under an evacuation order.
More Rain
Reporting 0% containment doesn’t mean the firefighting crews aren’t making progress. They’re busy building fire lines and doing burn-out operations.
“Firefighters completed a lot of good work yesterday, including constructing dozer lines and conducting burn-out operations,” the team said in its Tuesday status report.
Firefighters on the ground also have been cleaning up hot spots “in both the interior of the fire as well as along the fire line,” the report says.
More cool, humid weather will hopefully allow firefighters to make more progress, the Sierra/Nevada team said.
“Wednesday and Thursday will see the best chances for rain, as showers and thunderstorms become more widespread,” the report says.
Willow Creek
Southwest of Dollar Lake, the Willow Creek fire burning just south of Smoot is reporting the most progress.
After beginning the day Monday at 0% contained, firefighters are reporting 12% containment, mostly on the eastern flank near Smoot, fire managers reported Tuesday.
With 151 people working the incident, “all containment is currently concentrated on the eastern side, where structure protection and defense operations were highly effective,” according to the report.
“Operations will remain focused on structure and resource protection with crews continuing to reinforce structure defense in Smoot and the Allred Flat Campground by installing pump and sprinkler kits,” the report adds.
Weather also is making a difference on the fire, but in some areas rain can’t get to the hot spots.
“While rainfall is generally seen as a welcome development, it’s important to note that in dense forests, the canopy formed by mature trees can act as a natural umbrella and intercept much of the precipitation before it reaches the forest floor,” the report says.
With that, even a heavy rainfall can mean that “fire suppression efforts may see only minimal benefit.”
Red Canyon Fire
Wyoming’s largest wildfire of the season so far, the 125,000-acre Red Canyon Fire in the Bighorn Basin, has been downgraded.
The fire is 80% contained as of Tuesday, and the wildfire crews have been reduced to 210 personnel.
“As full suppression objectives are met, the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team will transfer command to the local unit Wednesday evening,” the complex team reports.
A Type 4 team is coming to finish up the firefighting and rehabilitation efforts.
The National Interagency Fire Center also reports estimated costs associated with fighting wildfires. To date, those are:
• Willow Creek: $900,000
• Dollar Lake: $4.6 million
• Red Canyon: $14.9 million
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
