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Bridger-Teton fires mostly under control JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) – Firefighters managed to keep a wildfire from advancing on homes and cabins while beating back all but one of eight smaller fires that flared up in Bridger-Teton National Forest.
Smoke jumpers parachuting from airplanes and crews rappelling from helicopters snuffed out small fires around the forest on Sunday, according to federal fire spokesman Bob Luntsford. By Monday evening, firefighters had reduced the number of flare-ups to a single fire about three-quarters of an acre, he said. Lightning started the blazes over the weekend. The smaller fires did not force firefighters to give up any ground on a portion of the main, 3,600-acre fire that forced 200 residents and vacationers to evacuate Tuesday of last week, Luntsford said. Firefighters with hoses spent Monday keeping the main fire from jumping a gravel road that leads to an evacuated campground, known as the Granite Creek Campground, he said. The fire remained at 5 percent containment, which is the amount of the fire that has been encircled by a fire-suppressing line of defense. “We have got engines and crews all the way up and down,” Luntsford said. “We have not a solid wall, but an awful lot of people on that east flank. This is where our efforts are all being concentrated at this point.” Sparks ignited small “hot spots” near cabins and homes but the fire is still about a mile away from homes, cabins and campsites, he said. Luntsford said he was uncertain how close hot spots were to property. “Anything that goes across the road is worrisome,” he said. Luntsford speculated that if all goes well, the evacuees might be able to return around midweek. Twenty-seven homes and cabins had been evacuated and some evacuees have been sleeping at a Red Cross shelter at Jackson Hole High School. “But we really don’t want to commit to anything until we know what the situation is in the next couple of days,” he said. To concentrate on protecting buildings, firefighters are allowing the fire to push into the wilderness. They expect the blaze will probably lose momentum as it hits meadows and rocky terrain. The fire has spread about 300 acres since the weekend. “It may take awhile” to burn out, Luntsford said. Meanwhile, forecasts of more dry and windy weather could bring more lightning-sparked fires, Luntsford said. “We could be picking up a whole lot of fires over the weekend,” he said. “We’re hoping not but one never knows. Officials were finally able to get some 40 new firefighters on the scene, for a total of 156, after being denied more help since Friday. Firefighters and equipment have been stretched thin across the West in what has been called the worst fire season in 50 years. Elsewhere in Wyoming, a 620-acre fire southeast of Encampment was fully controlled Monday. The predicted date for containing the four Enos Complex fires south of Meeteetse was pushed back from Sunday night to at least Wednesday. Some firefighters were diverted Sunday to seven miles north of Ten Sleep, where they succeeded in controlling the five-acre Post Draw Fire. “We’ve had excellent success at getting to these new fire starts quickly,” said John Thompson, a U.S. Bureau of Land Management fire use specialist. The combined size of the Enos Complex fires near Meeteetse was revised down slightly to 13,664 acres. Copyright 2000 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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