Fish Fire grows rapidly south of Sundance, WY

A Type 1 Incident Management Team will assume command Wednesday

Updated 8:28 a.m. MDT August 3, 2022

Incident Command Post on the Fish Fire,
Incident Command Post on the Fish Fire, Wednesday August 2, 2022. IMT photo.

The Fish Fire south of Sundance, Wyoming slowed Tuesday night as the winds decreased and the relative humidity rose to 75 percent.

Fish Fire, August 2, 2022
Fish Fire, August 2, 2022. IMT photo.

The updated forecast for Wednesday predicts mostly sunny skies with a high near 84 with a 6 to 13 mph east wind becoming west or southwest after 11 a.m. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph as the relative humidity drops to 25 percent.

briefing Fish Fire
Briefing on the Fish Fire, Wednesday August 3, 2022. IMT photo.

Since it started Sunday July 31 at 11:30 a.m. it has burned 6,476 acres on private and National Forest lands.

Incident Command Post on the Fish Fire,
Incident Command Post on the Fish Fire, Wednesday August 3, 2022. IMT photo.

The Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1 will assume command of the fire Wednesday morning.


5:30 p.m. MDT August 2, 2022

Fish Fire map, 3:58 p.m. Aug 2, 2022.
Fish Fire vicinity map, 3:58 p.m. Aug 2, 2022.

The Fish Fire eight miles south of Sundance, Wyoming was much more active Tuesday than in previous days. At 3:58 p.m. it was mapped at 6,476 acres, about eight times larger than it was Monday evening.

To see all of the articles on Wildfire Today about the Fish Fire, including the most current, click HERE.

Monday afternoon and into the evening it was pushed by winds out of the north and northwest gusting to 30 mph. That caused it to spread rapidly throughout the night and by 4 p.m. Tuesday it had grown about 2 miles to the east and four miles south. It spread east across Canyon Springs Road and south across Cold Springs Road. At that time it was still east of Highway 585.

Fish Fire map, 3:58 p.m. Aug 2, 2022
Fish Fire map, 3:58 p.m. Aug 2, 2022.

On Tuesday after 9 a.m. there was a 100 percent cloud cover over the area. In the afternoon winds were out of the northwest at 10 to 15 gusting at 28 to 34 mph while the temperature was 88. The relative humidity rose from 20 percent at 6:30 a.m. to 38 percent at 5 p.m. The forecast for Wednesday calls for mostly sunny skies, 84 degrees, 22 percent RH, and winds from the southwest at 5 to 10 mph.

Evacuation information may be posted on the Crook County Emergency Management Facebook Page, or, Weston County Emergency Management’s Facebook page.

Kim Hemenway, a spokesperson for the fire, said a Type 1 Incident Management Team will arrive Tuesday night and assume command from the Type 3 Team at 6 a.m. Wednesday.

Approximately 250 personnel are assigned.


The article was edited at 7:22 p.m. MDT August 3, 2022 to reflect that the Incident Management Team said their reference to a “Critical Incident Management Team” should have been “COMPLEX Incident Management Team.”

Typos, let us know HERE, and specify which article. Please read the commenting rules before you post a comment.

Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

6 thoughts on “Fish Fire grows rapidly south of Sundance, WY”

  1. From the Situation Report:
    ***Complex Incident Management Teams (CIMTs) are configured to respond to large, complex fires and can
    expand and reduce staffing in all functional areas as necessary to meet the needs of the incident.
    Fish, Crook County. CIMT (RM Team 1).
    If this is one of those teams, then someone has their wires crossed. (Not you, Bill.)

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    1. I sent a message to the team to confirm the term they used, but have not heard back.

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      1. I heard back from the IMT. They said it should have been “Complex”. I made the change in the article.

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  2. I think you mean Complex Incident Management Team , not Critical??
    “The Rocky Mountain Critical Incident Management Team 1 will assume command of the fire Wednesday morning.”

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