As more than 250 wildland firefighters continue to battle a stubborn Dollar Lake Fire in remote and rugged country of southern Bridger-Teton National Forest, one thing is becoming clear even as smoke continues to haze up the region.
The famous viewshed of Squaretop and White Rock mountains looking southeast along the Green River Lakes won’t be the same for decades.
That’s because the nearly 19,500-acre fire has burned a path right along the lakes and Green River that feeds them straight toward Squaretop. Along the way, it’s left a mosaic of checkerboard black that looks like a picturesque puzzle missing some pieces.
That’s how Pinedale photographer David Bell described the landscape after firefighting crews took him into the area to scope out the damage for himself.
Owner of Wyoming Mountain Photography, Bell has captured images from around the state, especially around his home in southwest Wyoming. And Squaretop is near the top of his list of spectacular views that are unique to Wyoming.
While the fire continues to burn, it hasn’t shown much expansion this week and continues to become more under control, with Wyoming Team 4 reporting Friday that it’s at 63% containment. That’s the Type 3 incident management team in charge of fighting the fire.
“It looks like on the west side of the lower lake, the fire burned a pretty mosaic pattern,” Bell told Cowboy State Daily on Friday. “There are patches of burned area, but it didn’t appear that it torched the whole side of the lake.”
That’s what Bell feared would happen, turning a view of Squaretop that was so spectacular that it was the backdrop for Wyoming license plates for eight years before a new design went into circulation this year.
It’s not a “hellscape,” he said, but it has definitely changed and “will never be the same.”
“Honestly, it’s not as bad as I would have thought, from what I could tell,” he said. “There are still pretty hazy skies and pretty flat light.”
There is one area that has seemed to catch the brunt of the Dollar Lake Fire in that area, he said.
“Little Sheep Mountain, when you’re standing looking up the Lower Lake, up to your right are mountains, and Little Sheep burned pretty significantly,” Bell said. “It’s pretty black. Big Sheep is a much larger peak, and it was kind of hard to see how much of that burned.”
Pinedale photographer David Bell got a look at what the Dollar Lake Fire has done to the famous view of Squaretop and said there’s a “mosaic” of black. He said it’ll “never be the same,” but firefighters have saved it from becoming a “hellscape.” (David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
Pinedale photographer David Bell got a look at what the Dollar Lake Fire has done to the famous view of Squaretop and said there’s a “mosaic” of black. He said it’ll “never be the same,” but firefighters have saved it from becoming a “hellscape.” (David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
Pinedale photographer David Bell got a look at what the Dollar Lake Fire has done to the famous view of Squaretop and said there’s a “mosaic” of black. He said it’ll “never be the same,” but firefighters have saved it from becoming a “hellscape.” (David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
Pinedale photographer David Bell got a look at what the Dollar Lake Fire has done to the famous view of Squaretop and said there’s a “mosaic” of black. He said it’ll “never be the same,” but firefighters have saved it from becoming a “hellscape.” (David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
Pinedale photographer David Bell got a look at what the Dollar Lake Fire has done to the famous view of Squaretop and said there’s a “mosaic” of black. He said it’ll “never be the same,” but firefighters have saved it from becoming a “hellscape.” (David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
Pinedale photographer David Bell got a look at what the Dollar Lake Fire has done to the famous view of Squaretop and said there’s a “mosaic” of black. He said it’ll “never be the same,” but firefighters have saved it from becoming a “hellscape.” (David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
Pinedale photographer David Bell got a look at what the Dollar Lake Fire has done to the famous view of Squaretop and said there’s a “mosaic” of black. He said it’ll “never be the same,” but firefighters have saved it from becoming a “hellscape.” (David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
Pinedale photographer David Bell got a look at what the Dollar Lake Fire has done to the famous view of Squaretop and said there’s a “mosaic” of black. He said it’ll “never be the same,” but firefighters have saved it from becoming a “hellscape.” (David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
Pinedale photographer David Bell got a look at what the Dollar Lake Fire has done to the famous view of Squaretop and said there’s a “mosaic” of black. He said it’ll “never be the same,” but firefighters have saved it from becoming a “hellscape.” (David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
Pinedale photographer David Bell got a look at what the Dollar Lake Fire has done to the famous view of Squaretop and said there’s a “mosaic” of black. He said it’ll “never be the same,” but firefighters have saved it from becoming a “hellscape.” (David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
Pinedale photographer David Bell got a look at what the Dollar Lake Fire has done to the famous view of Squaretop and said there’s a “mosaic” of black. He said it’ll “never be the same,” but firefighters have saved it from becoming a “hellscape.” (David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
Pinedale photographer David Bell got a look at what the Dollar Lake Fire has done to the famous view of Squaretop and said there’s a “mosaic” of black. He said it’ll “never be the same,” but firefighters have saved it from becoming a “hellscape.” (David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography) 
Pinedale photographer David Bell got a look at what the Dollar Lake Fire has done to the famous view of Squaretop and said there’s a “mosaic” of black. He said it’ll “never be the same,” but firefighters have saved it from becoming a “hellscape.” (David Bell, Wyoming Mountain Photography)
‘It’s Changed, For Sure’
While the fire hasn’t grown much in size for days, that doesn’t mean it’s not a dangerous and volatile situation, said Annie Reid, spokesperson for Team 4.
That area near Squaretop continues to be the most concerning, she said. That’s because the terrain there is so dense, steep and hard to get to that it’s difficult to get ground crews in there safely.
If these firefighters can get there, that says a lot, Reid said.
“They’re a pretty robust group of humans,” she said. “Those snags that are there are nasty to put humans into.”
The path of the fire looks a little like a shoulder with an arm hanging down to the east. The crux of that, what firefighters call “the armpit,” is still not fully contained.
That’s where the focus is now, along with repairing areas that are contained, Reid said.
“That forearm, there are a lot of resources working in that area,” she said. “It’s a really snaggy, treacherous area that we need to be careful how we put people into … to make sure they’re safe.”
Bell said he saw firsthand how professional and good these firefighters are at what they do when he was allowed to visit their base camp.
Now he said he’s waiting for the fire to be put down enough to open the area to the public again.
Bell said he already knows it’s not the same.
“It’s changed, for sure,” Bell said. “But I don’t think it’s going to be destroyed. What I couldn’t tell looking up toward the Upper Lake or toward Porcupine was what it was like there.
“Golly, it’s still one of the prettiest places in the world, despite the fire.”
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
