CASPER, Wyo. — Incident managers on the 17,859-acre Pack Trail Fire in the Bridger Teton National Forest are expecting another day of somewhat moderated fire behavior before another forecast wind event on Wednesday that could push more growth.
The fire spread about 5 miles under high winds Sunday. A complex incident management team from California will arrive to take command of the Pack Trail fire late Wednesday or early Thursday. The fire was started by lightning on Sept. 15.
“Still no strong indications of a wetting rain through the weekend,” Tuesday’s incident update said. The evacuations and evacuation alert levels for several subdivisions and ranches in Fremont County remain in place, while new closure orders issued Tuesday are in effect until at least Oct. 15.
The fire is burning in remote, rugged, and largely inaccessible terrain with few roads, limiting any direct engagement on the ground, fire managers said. With lighter winds on Monday, aircraft were able to take to the skies and largely halt the forward progression of the fire southeast of Lava Mountain and along the Lava Mountain Burn Scar of 2016.
Those efforts are expected to continue on Tuesday, along with structure protection activities in subdivisions along the Highway 20-26 corridor.
An infrared surveillance flight Monday afternoon provided a revised downward estimate of the acreage burned to 17,859 acres.
An air quality alert for the upper Wind River Basin, including Dubois, has been extended through Wednesday, when higher winds are expected to produce more smoke. The air quality alert for Natrona County is expected to expire at at 11 a.m. Tuesday, though smoke impacts are expected to continue. The Elk Fire in Sheridan County is also contributing to decreased air quality in the region. An interactive air quality map is available here.
Additional firefighter resources are being diverted from the Fish Creek Fire just a few miles to the north, which is 87% contained.
