CASPER, Wyo. – Crews working five wildfires in northern Wyoming located between Gillette and Buffalo, and at the northern Wyoming border with Montana, continue to make progress on their containment.
Favorable weather including some rain and cooler temperatures aided the effort, according to a release from the multi-agency Southwest Area Incident Management Team.
As of early Thursday, Sept. 5, the Flat Rock fire is 97 percent contained, Remington is 88 percent contained, the Constitution is 95 percent contained, House Draw is 94 percent contained, and Silver Spoon is 63 percent contained.
“The Flat Rock, Remington, Constitution, House Draw and Silver Spoon fires exhibited smoldering fire behavior yesterday, due to cooler temperatures and higher relative humidity,” they said. “Interior pockets of trees will put up smoke until there is significant rain to wet down big logs and stumps.”
Updates on each fire follows:
Silver Spoon – Firefighters on the Silver Spoon Fire spent yesterday mopping-up any hot spots on the north and south end. Today, crews will continue to mop-up making sure no heat sources remain near the fireline. They are working in steep country, taking their time, which is a slow process.
Flat Rock – Heavy equipment continued working yesterday on the east side of the fire, finishing up some needed dozer line repair. Today, crews will complete the remaining few pieces of fireline repair and any fence repair still needed.
Remington – Crews spent yesterday working along the north end of the fire area to complete fireline suppression and fenceline repair. Crews will move south today, trying to complete fireline suppression and fenceline repair on the southern end of the fire.
Constitution – Yesterday, machinery completed lots of good work on the Constitution Fire and are nearing completion of needed suppression repair work. Today, heavy equipment will finish up the remaining work with crews completing fence repair as needed.
House Draw – Heavy equipment completed suppression repair work on the south end of the House Draw Fire. Today, heavy equipment work will finish up on the north side of the interstate.
While conditions on Wednesday were helpful, the forecast calls for more sunshine, warmer temperatures and lower humidity as the week progresses.
Meanwhile in further west, Togwotee Pass west of Dubois was closed on Wednesday afternoon due to the Fish Creek Fire, and remains closed as of 8 a.m. on Thursday, according to WYDOT.
According to InciWeb, nearly 19,000 acres of land in the Bridger-Teton National Forest are affected as of Thursday morning.
“The fire is burning in heavy timber in a remote section of the North Fish Creek drainage, approximately 7 miles southwest of Togwotee Pass,” according to the incident report. “Residents of the Brooks Lake Rd, East & West Pinnacle Dr., Breccia Dr. area are in the Level 3 Evacuation notice,” they said.
The cause of that fire appears to be lightning, according to the report.
