Wildfire starts in Sunlight Basin, while Yellowstone's Lone Star Fire grows to 763 acres

Posted 8/25/20

Crews are working to combat a small wildfire in Sunlight Basin that was started by lightning Monday night.

The Painter Creek Fire was estimated at roughly 1 acre in size as of Tuesday afternoon, …

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Wildfire starts in Sunlight Basin, while Yellowstone's Lone Star Fire grows to 763 acres

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Crews are working to combat a small wildfire in Sunlight Basin that was started by lightning Monday night.

The Painter Creek Fire was estimated at roughly 1 acre in size as of Tuesday afternoon, with the wildfire burning in timber on the east side of Windy Mountain. The mountain sits south of hundreds of acres of private property, including multiple ranches, within the Shoshone National Forest.

On Tuesday, a Type 2 (medium) helicopter, two single engine air tankers, smokejumpers and Shoshone forest resources are all working to extinguish the Painter Creek Fire “as quickly as possible,” said Kristie Salzmann, a spokeswoman for the Shoshone.

“In this unique year that we are in, we're trying to keep fire camps small or non-existent,” Salzmann added, referring to COVID-19-related precautions. “So we are hitting fires with as much aerial resources — whether it be water or retardant, depending on the situation — to try and extinguish fires as soon as possible.”

Conditions have become increasingly dry in Wyoming in recent weeks, with officials in neighboring Yellowstone National Park implementing backcountry fire restrictions on Friday amid “very high” fire danger.

Park officials announced Tuesday that the Lone Star Fire, burning about 3 miles south of Old Faithful, has grown to 763 acres. There were 37 personnel and the Wyoming Team 2 Incident Management Team  assigned to the fire. As of Tuesday morning, it was 0% contained, but has been spreading to the northeast and away from Old Faithful, park officials say.

Both the Old Faithful area and the West Thumb Geyser Basin remain fully open to the public, along with all five park entrances. However, the Grand Loop Road between Old Faithful and West Thumb Junction remains closed due to the road's "proximity to fire, impacts from smoke and increased fire traffic." That's requiring some visitors to make detours when traveling through Yellowstone.

Also on Tuesday, Bighorn National Forest officials announced that the Freeze Out Fire — located near Freeze Out Point on the northeastern side of the forest — has been fully contained after burning through 10 acres.

“No injuries were reported, and fire personnel are thankful for logistical support from local businesses,” said Sara Evans Kirol, a spokeswoman for the Bighorn forest.

Lightning had started that fire around Aug. 19 and led to the temporary closure of the area surrounding the wildfire.

Yellowstone officials noted Tuesday that “fire activity in the western United States has created smoky conditions throughout the region.” The Powell area has been inundated with smoke from fires in California and other states in recent days, but changing weather patterns should help make local skies clearer by late Tuesday or early Wednesday, the National Weather Service says.

Meanwhile, Yellowstone officials noted that the country is currently in Preparedness Level 5 — “the highest level of fire activity and demand for resources.”

“All residents and visitors can assist fire efforts by strictly following any fire restrictions to reduce the potential of additional starts,” park officials said.

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