(Dubois, WY) – The daily Fish Creek Fire updates from the US Department of Agriculture Forest Services came to an end on September 19, but have resumed today, September 29, as the Fish Creek Fire and nearby Pack Trail Fire became more active on Saturday.
The Fish Creek Fire acreage is 25,069 acres and the Pack Trail fire, just 3 miles south of the southern edge of the Fish Creek Fire grew to over 9,000 acres, according to the September 29 update. Both fires are burning in heavy timber.
The lightning-caused Fish Creek Fire was discovered on August 16, 2024 and the lightning caused Pack Trail Fire was discovered on September 15, 2024.
There is an emergency closure in effect around both fires.
The update goes on to state that an incident management team has been suppressing these fires, and that while both fires have been active and creating smoke columns, the Pack Trail Fire growth was significant yesterday.
“The fire is in remote terrain with very difficult access,” said Jackson District Ranger Todd Stiles. “Tree density and heavy dead and snag tree components make it very dangerous to put firefighters on the ground,” he said.
Firefighter safety has remained the number one priority throughout this incident, Stiles added.
“After initial attempts to access the Pack Trail Fire by our local helitack firefighters, it was determined that attempts to put a larger force on the ground would likely be unsuccessful, and could result in high likelihood of injury,” he said.
Early attempts to tamp the Pack Trail Fire down with air resources and water drops had no effect, and the weather that day in September was extremely windy, contributing to the overall ineffectiveness of aerial attack, the update continues.
Additionally, a confinement and point protection strategy was orchestrated by the incident management team and firefighters to utilize the surrounding terrain and changes in fuel type to act as potential containment features.
“Weather and forecasted precipitation have not materialized over the fire,” Stiles continued, substantial air resources have been applied by the Incident Management Team, and with yesterday’s dry and warm conditions, air attack efforts had little effect.
“The fire started to spotting ahead of itself, passing over and even burning through the terrain and more favorable grass and sage fuel type confinement features,” Stiles said. “The fire displayed behavior much more indicative of mid to late August prime summer fire season,” he continued.
Several resources are on order and this fire is now the priority fire in the region.
EVACUATION INFORMATION:
Fremont County Emergency Management issued the Level 2 “SET” evacuation status yesterday evening, for the following communities: Brooks Lake Lodge, Brooks Lake Road, East & West Pinnacle Drive, Breccia Drive, US HWY 26, entrance to Brooks Lake Road, Falls Campground, Lava Mountain Lodge, Roaming River Subdivision, Buckboard Subdivision, Double Bar J Ranch, Lava Creek Ranch, Triangle C Ranch, Long Creek Ranch, Paintbrush & Carriage Drive, Long Creek Subdivision, and the old KOA.
A Level 1 “READY” evacuation status was also issued for the Bourbon Subdivision.
Visit the incident information pages for the latest information: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/wybtf-fish-creek-fire
The emergency closure order is in effect and can be found: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd1205718.pdf
The map of the emergency closure is located at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd1205717.pdf
For weather forecast visit: https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Riverton&state=WY&site=RIW&textField1=43.0356&textField2=-108.415&e=0
For up to date road closure and Highway 26/287 information, visit: https://www.wyoroad.info/511/511announcement.html
Click here for all of County 10’s Fish Creek Fire coverage.