Cloudy, 26° F
Tuesday rains aided the crews fighting the Crater Ridge Fire in the Bighorn Mountains, but the wildfire continues to burn.
As of Wednesday morning, some 238 personnel — including six …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
The Powell Tribune has expanded its online content. To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free web account by clicking here.
If you already have a web account, but need to reset it, you can do so by clicking here.
If you would like to purchase a subscription click here.
Please log in to continue |
|
Tuesday rains aided the crews fighting the Crater Ridge Fire in the Bighorn Mountains, but the wildfire continues to burn.
As of Wednesday morning, some 238 personnel — including six engines, three helicopters, two pieces of heavy equipment and an airplane — were working to contain and suppress the fire. Lightning is believed to have started the blaze on Saturday in the Bighorn National Forest, about 30 miles northeast of Lovell. It was estimated at about 383 acres in size as of Wednesday morning.
During the day, hand crews planned to remove vegetation south of the fire on Boyd Ridge to create a containment line; meanwhile heavy equipment was being used to build containment lines to the west.
A large area of the Bighorn National Forest — significantly bigger than the fire itself — has been closed to the public for the time being.
“Due to the remoteness, steep terrain, and continuous fuels, conditions are unsafe for fire crews to construct fireline directly adjacent to the fire. Instead, an indirect strategy is being applied, which requires more room to work,” officials with Rocky Mountain Area Type 2 Incident Management Team Blue said Wednesday. “Please respect the area closure, allowing firefighters to work without concern for the safety of public visitors in the path of the fire, and reducing traffic hazards to fire crews.”
People who own campers or trailers that are parked in the closure area — particularly those along Little Horn Road — were being asked to remove their property by 1 p.m. today (Thursday). After that point, “no entry will be allowed until the closure has lifted.”
Temperatures were expected to peak in the mid 70s on Wednesday with a chance of thunderstorms and gusty winds in the afternoon.
“Most fire activity is occurring in the Cub Creek drainage, along the south and west perimeter of the fire,” the management team said. “Cooler, more humid weather is expected to moderate fire behavior, similar to [Tuesday].”
Roughly 0.3 of an inch of rain fell on the Crater Ridge Fire Tuesday, though “this did not extinguish the fire,” the release said.
