GILLETTE, Wyo. — As the Elk Fire continues to burn, Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team Three is preparing to end its two-week rotation manning the helm. In his video briefing report on Monday, Operations Section Chief Mike Reed noted it was his second-to-last time doing the briefing, with his final video overview to come on Monday as a new management team rotates in.
Posted by the National Forest Service’s Bighorn National Forest division on its Facebook page, the video briefings have accompanied other informational written posts and infographics concerning the fire and evacuation orders for the area.
Currently, the fire is at 27% containment and has grown to nearly 90,000 acres, measuring a total of 89,315 acres as of Reed’s briefing on Monday.
Reed explained that in the northern section of the fire, dubbed the Zulu division, the fire line was being patrolled and crews are “feeling really good” about preventing the fire from spreading westward, holding the fire line well and managing small areas where the fire had jumped the mop line without issue.
Crews were also conducting chipping in on the northernmost edge of the fire to deal with slash timber along the fire line. Moving south, resources also responded to fire activity in Tongue Canyon, conducting fire mopping up toward the mouth of the canyon. Reed said would hopefully lead to full containment in that area soon.
The thin tail on the southeast side of the fire is burning between two controlled lines, Reed said, which is helping to prevent the fire from moving further east into other populated areas.
In the video, he references the current map of the fire, indicating where the fire is currently being held at bay.
“It’s basically helping to create a little bit of a catchers’ mitt in here, to help reduce the risk to Big Horn and Story,” Reed said. “Although not entirely out of play, it does really help to reduce the risk. If it does decide to move, we have a good anchor.”
The fire has not yet shown any signs it will move much from its current location the southeast near Rapid Creek, Reed said. An incoming weather front could also bring precipitation to the region, which would help quell any growth. Moving back to the fire’s western edge, Reed noted that preparations in and around Burgess Junction were going well, with crews nearly finished with a mission to prepare areas near US 16 and Burgess Junction for any changes in activity.
Overall, though, the western edge of the fire had not been seeing much movement since development, with lines staying relatively the same since that time.
“I think we’re in a good place, I think we’re getting set up for success. We have all the right pieces in place and we’ll just continue to plot along, and hopefully we’re successful as we move,” Reed said in closing.
