Wet and cool weather is slowing the spread of the two fires.The LeHardy fire in Yellowstone National Park, at 9,332 acres, received some rain yesterday and will be releasing some resources due to that and the predicted weather.
The Gunbarrel fire just east of Yellowstone, 35,500 acres, did not report any rain yesterday in their news release, but the weather decreased the fire activity. The release says a drying trend is expected on Saturday, while the Weather Service point forecast predicts a 50% chance of heavy rain.
A new map of the Gunbarrel fire west of Cody, WY is available, produced from an infrared flight at 8:19 p.m. August 6. Cooler temperatures and higher humidities have moderated the fire activity for the last couple of days and allowed the evacuation orders to be lifted. The fire has burned 35,500 acres.
The same weather pattern has also slowed the spread of the LeHardy fire in Yellowstone National Park, which has burned 9,332 acres and is 5% contained according to the latest information from the park.
The map below is the result of an infrared flight (IR) at 8:11 p.m. August 6. The IR interpreter determined the number of burned acres to be 7,318. The legend is hard to read, but the black cross-hatched areas are intense heat, and the red dots (or reddish areas) are scattered heat. Fishing bridge and Yellowstone Lake are at the bottom of the map. Click on it to see a larger version.
One of the IR planes scheduled to fly the fire last night had a mechanical problem and was grounded at West Yellowstone, waiting for a mechanic.
The photo was taken by Carter Marsh on the LeHardy fire. It is a Sikorsky S-61 and has a similar paint scheme as the Carson S-61s, one of which was involved in the recent crash on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
More information is available from the Billings Gazette about the “lodge” that was destroyed in the fire on Sunday.
Representatives for the Shoshone National Forest confirmed Tuesday after inquiries Monday from The Gazette that the historic Sweetwater Lodge (and 6 other structures in the complex) had burned Sunday, but said aerial spotters had been unable to verify its status until later.
The defunct lodge near Sweetwater Creek and six accompanying buildings, all abandoned, were about 3 1/2 miles north of the North Fork Highway, northwest of the Wapiti Campground.
The lodge had reverted to the Forest Service after a lawsuit over access won by the prior owner.
The road leading to the lodge and its surrounding buildings had long been closed to vehicles, and the property had not been used as a guest lodge for several years.
Susan Douglas, a spokeswoman for the Shoshone National Forest, said fire managers had decided that protecting the lodge using firefighters, sprinklers and other ground-based defensive measures would have been too dangerous.
The fire has now burned 32,590 acres. Today winds are expected to push it down drainages towards the highway on the south side of the fire. Assigned to the fire are 6 twenty-person hot shot crews, 3 heavy helicopters, 3 medium helicopters, 2 light helicopters, 16 engines, and approximately 322 personnel.
Pushed by an east wind, the fire was very active today. It is now about 6 miles from the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Here is an update from the Team at 7:30 p.m. today.
Pushed by east winds, the western flank of the Gunbarrel Fire pushed into the Libby Creek drainage this afternoon and is moving toward Mormon Creek. Due to the active fire behavior, the Goff and Elephant Head lodges were evacuated by the Park County Sheriff’s Office, and the Crossed Sabers Lodge evacuated voluntarily. According to Dick Spiess, an Operations Director for the Rocky Mountain Management Team, “We conducted a planned evacuation based on preset management points.”
A recreational residence east of the Eagle Creek Campground was also evacuated, and the Eagle Creek Campground is under a precautionary evacuation alert. Structure protection specialists are evaluating buildings to the south and east of the fire.
Earlier in the fire, firelines were constructed around the lodge buildings and sprinkler system systems installed as precautionary measures. Today, fire officials utilized heavy helicopters to slow the advance of the fire.
The map below was updated sometime today… it’s difficult to determine the exact time.
============================== 9:54 a.m. Aug. 5 The Gunbarrel fire 40 miles west of Cody, Wyoming (31,050 acres) issued an update this morning:
Management efforts yesterday concentrated on structural protection of the Standing Star Ranch,Goff Creek Lodge and the Crossed Sabres Ranch. Hot shot crews constructed fireline around the buildings while sprinkler systems were set in place. Burnout operations occurred along the highway and may continue today if favorable weather conditions persist. Heavy smoke across the road did result in traffic delays of up to an hour but the North Fork Highway remains open to public travel.
Today resources will work on extinguishing any remaining fire around structures and adjacent to the highway while patrols insure that the fire stays on the north side of the highway. Red Flag weather conditions are forecast and the firefighters are still anticipating a frontal passage that will affect wind direction.
The Sweetwater Lodge, consisting of the lodge and six other buildings was consumed by the fire on Sunday night. The lodge, which was owned by the Forest Service and uninhabited, had not been in operation for many years. Fire management officer Mark Giacoletto said extreme fire behavior Sunday evening pushed the fire 4.5 miles in 3 hours.
Two incident management teams are assigned to the fire. Rocky Mountain Geographic Area Type 2 Team A with Incident Commander Don Angell, and Bill Hanenberg’s Fire Use Management Team.
A structure burned Sunday night on the Gunbarrel fire 40 miles west of Cody, Wyoming.
The Sweetwater Lodge on the Shoshone National Forest was burned in the Gunbarrel Fire last night. The lodge, which was owned by the Forest Service and uninhabited, had not been in operation for many years.
Fire management officer Mark Giacoletto said extreme fire behavior Sunday evening pushed the fire 4.5 miles in 3 hours. “There was no way we were going to put people in that drainage yesterday,” said Giacoletto.
Firefighting resources had been prioritized to work on private operating and functioning structures in the western part of the North Fork corridor. There was no motorized access to the lodge. The previous day, helicopters dropped water on and around the lodge. Plans to place sprinklers near the lodge were not feasible to implement due to hazardous fire conditions.
The Gunbarrel Fire was started by lightning on July 26 and has burned 31,000 acres along the North Fork of the Shoshone River.
Here is the latest map showing heat detected by satellites last night for the three fires in northwest Wyoming, Yellowstone NP, and in the southern Montana Red Lodge area.
