JACKSON — As of Sunday afternoon, the Fish Creek Fire burning seven miles southwest of Togwotee Pass increased to 11,278 acres and remained zero percent contained. U.S. Highway 26/287 reopened Saturday morning; no future closures are scheduled.
After a new incident management team took over this past weekend, 331 people are working to fight the lightning-caused fire that began Aug. 16.
Despite the nearly 2,000-acre growth from Friday, the 102-year-old Brooks Lake Lodge has not been touched, according to Kira Powell, a spokesperson for the Northern Rockies Incident Management Team, which assumed command Saturday morning.
Residents of the Brooks Lake, Pinnacle Drive and Breccia Drive area remain at Level 2 Evacuation, meaning “be set” to leave at any moment.
Sunday afternoon, Powell said the fire had not advanced north of the highway.
Drivers are asked to reduce their speeds to 45 mph in accordance with posted speed limits when driving through the area, as there is potential for smoke.
If fire activity is expected to compromise the safety on the highway, the request will be made to the Wyoming Department of Transportation to close the highway on short notice.
On Saturday, the fire was most active on the west side in the Cottonwood Creek and Maverick Creek drainages, according to a press release from the Rockies team.
“The south side of the fire moved very little and is held up in open grassy meadows,” the update said. “On the east side, the 2007 Hardscrabble Fire scar has slowed fire movement. Firefighters scouted locations for both working on direct and indirect control lines, as well as utilizing natural barriers for control features to confine the fire within.”
On Sunday, firefighters were working on the northeast corner of the fire, toward Highway 26, to create an “indirect line,” a term in wildfire suppression that refers to a barrier. Indirect lines are often built hundreds or thousands of meters away from a fire and aim to prevent a fire’s spread.
“Additional indirect fire line locations will continue to be scouted in areas north of the fire, with the intent of protecting important values in case the fire gets established on the north side of Highway 26,” the agency wrote Sunday.
Areas of two national forests — the Bridger-Teton and the Shoshone — have been closed, including Falls Campground Road, Rainbow Lake Trail and Sublette Pass Trail.
More details about this closure order can be found online, on the Fish Creek Fire inciweb site and the Forests’ websites.
Drivers are encouraged to visit WyoRoad.info prior to traveling on Highway 26/287 for road status and information, or download the Wyoming 511 app.
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