Wyoming Wildfires: Crews continue to battle wildfires across the state

Wildfires continue to burn throughout the state, fueled by dry, hot weather, and firefighters are working diligently to keep them contained.

With dry lightning and gusty winds, coupled with a drier-than-normal July, the Cowboy State is currently managing three active fires burning more than 28,000 acres.

Crews are battling the Clearwater Fire in the Shoshone National Forest, the Leeds Creek Fire in the Bridger-Teton National Forest and, the largest of the three, the Pleasant Valley Fire burning near Guernsey.

Fire season began earlier this summer as crews fought blazes in Crook, Johnson and Weston counties.

In a statement to WyoFile, Jerod DeLay, assistant state forester and fire management officer for the Wyoming State Forestry Division, states, “We’ve been pretty busy in the last couple of weeks, as the fuels are dried and curing out. We’re starting to see the effects of this in some of the larger fires. There’s a lot drier fuel out there available.”

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, only a small portion of Wyoming’s Southwest corner is not experiencing drought. On the other hand, Eastern Wyoming is experiencing severe to moderate drought, while Central Wyoming is abnormally dry and Northwest Wyoming is in moderate drought.

Due to dry conditions, as of Aug. 7, 14 of Wyoming’s 23 counties are under fire restrictions.

Pleasant Valley Fire

In Eastern Wyoming, Wyoming’s largest wildfire – the Pleasant Valley Fire – has burned over 28,984 acres merging with the Haystack Fire, which was started by a lightning strike, according to reports from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

The BLM reports the cause of the original Pleasant Valley Fire, which started on July 30, still remains undetermined and under investigation.

Wyoming Type Three Incident Management Team (IMT) Public Information Officer Tyson Finnicum states, “As of Aug. 7, the fire is now 100 percent contained, and crews continued to mop up heat and smoke in addition to increasing containment.”

He says crews also began the process of rehabilitation, starting with areas disturbed during indirect fire suppression efforts.

The Wyoming Type Three IMT began the process of downsizing earlier this week, but remaining crews will continue to mop up and rehabilitate indirect fire line. 

Over the coming days, the Wyoming Type Three IMT will also transition to patrol status led by local departments.

“We want to extend our gratitude to the local fire departments who have worked tirelessly from day one to control the fire, as well as to the local communities in Platte and Goshen counties for all of their support and contributions during this time,” Finnicum states.

According to Finnicum, approximately 160 personnel, multiple hand crews and engines, along with three helicopters, assisted with the fire.

Leeds Creek Fire

In Western Wyoming, crews continue efforts to suppress the Leeds Creek Fire on the Pinedale Ranger District of the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

The fire has burned 845 acres with only 13 percent containment, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Public Affairs Officer Mary Cernicek in a Aug. 7 press release.

Cernicek states, “The Teton Helitack flew the fire area and mapped a more detailed GPS perimeter of the fire, which showed interior meadows along drainages within the fire perimeter haven’t been burning. Because of this, reported fire acreage has dropped due to more precise mapping.”

The Leeds Creek Fire is burning in mixed conifer, areas of logging slash and heavy dead and down fuels approximately 16 miles southwest of Dubois.

The fire was reported on Aug. 1 by USFS staff who spotted smoke from Union Pass. However, the cause of the fire is still unknown.

Cernicek states, “Minimal fire growth has occurred, but we are expecting to see increased fire activity during the afternoon hours when it is hotter and drier.” 

The area is forecasted to see more precipitation with gusty outflow winds, but fire crews will continue to reinforce established control lines to prevent future spotting. 

Additionally, fire crews are onsite and are working to construct a containment line, with multiple hand crews, dozers and smoke jumpers. Two helicopters are being used to halt the fire’s spread to the east of Leeds Creek, and the fire is staffed by 112 personnel.

Clearwater Fire

The Clearwater Fire started on July 19 due to a lightning strike and is located 11 miles west of Wapiti in the Elk Fork drainage.

As of Aug. 7, the fire covered about 1,805 acres and was only 11 percent contained, as the location of the fire is in very steep and remote terrain, making suppression efforts challenging.

According to fire reports, the Clearwater Fire is located near Highway 14 between Wapiti and Yellowstone National Park and has burned parts of the highway corridor.

“The highway corridor remains very busy and public safety is of highest concern,” states the report.

Along the corridor, firefighters are mopping up along the burn area on the highway while crews extinguish or remove burning material near the highway, down to the soil. Firefighters will also remove fire damaged trees to prevent falling or new fires from starting.

“The fire is burning on steep slopes in conifer forest, brush and dead and down logs,” states the InciWeb fire report.

The report continues, “Cooler temperatures are expected. However, with upcoming cooler temperatures, there will be gusty winds and thunderstorms which may support short-term fire growth, particularly along the currently active fire edge south of the Shoshone River and on the ridges west of the Elk Fork.”

Currently, 110 personnel are battling the blaze, and the Elk Fork Campground is closed indefinitely.

The Wapiti Campground and Clearwater Campground are closed until fire conditions allow otherwise, and fire crews have installed sprinklers and reduced fuel sources at the UXU Ranch as well.

The Wyoming Incident Command center estimates full containment of the fire burning in rugged terrain may not be until about October.

Melissa Anderson is the editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.