Some 90 personnel were working Monday morning to extinguish a fire that broke out in the Bighorn Mountains on Saturday. It had burned through roughly 200 acres by Monday morning.

A team that included multiple aircraft and engines planned to scout around the Crater Ridge Fire in hopes of finding a way to contain it. The goal is to fully supress the blaze, but “continuous fuels, steep terrain, and difficult access limit firefighters’ opportunity for direct attack,” according to a fact sheet from fire managers.

“The fire is burning in timber interspersed with grassy meadows and bald ridges. Terrain is steep, bisected by drainages,” they wrote. “Large-diameter fuels are the primary fuels burning and are extremely dry and receptive to fire.”

The Crater Ridge Fire started about 30 miles northeast of Lovell in the Bighorn National Forest and Sheridan County.

Officials are still investigating the cause, but they’re assuming it was started by lightning. Within the last week, firefighters in the area have responded to 16 different wildfires that were started by passing electrical storms.

The type 2 Rocky Mountain Incident Management Blue Team — which helped combat the more than 11,000 acre Fishhawk Fire west of Cody in 2019 — assumed command of the Crater Ridge Fire at 6 a.m. Monday. The team expected the fire to be active in the Cub Creek area and along Crater Ridge itself on Monday, with growth uphill to the south, up-drainage to the west in Cub Creek and along Crater Ridge. To the north, crews were watching for flare-ups that could produce spotting into Pumpkin Creek.

Rescources at the team’s disposal included two Type 1 helicopters, which were ready for bucket work to cool hotter areas as needed.

Stage 1 Fire Restrictions are in effect in Sheridan County and the Bighorn National Forest.

Forest leaders have closed the area around the fire.

“There are many campers/trailers within and around the fire closure area that could be at risk of fire damage and should be removed before conditions prevent access,” fire managers warned Monday. “Entry for camper/trailer removal is authorized only under safe conditions.”

For more information about the Crater Ridge Fire, visit inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7685/.