Driven by high winds, the Elk Fire in Sheridan County has burned more than 32,000 acres as of October 2 and continues to threaten the communities of Parkman and Dayton. The lightning-caused fire is being managed by the U.S. Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 3, with approximately 200 personnel currently assigned to the fire. U.S. 14 between Dayton and Burgess Junction will remain closed indefinitely, as the fire has crossed the highway at mile marker 76.
Governor Mark Gordon has authorized the deployment of the Wyoming National Guard to support the Elk Fire with on-site medevac resources for firefighter safety and use, if necessary.
The Governor will attend a community meeting about the Elk Fire taking place at 7 pm today, October 2, at Tongue River Middle School in Ranchester. The meeting will be recorded and posted to the Bighorn National Forest Facebook page.
Two additional fires, the Fish Creek and Pack Trail, in Teton and Fremont Counties, have burned more than 43,000 acres combined and have 299 personnel battling the wildfires. The Bridger-Teton and Shoshone National Forests have delegated the California Complex Incident Management Team 10 to manage both fires, which are located south of Togwotee Pass.
Governor Gordon is responding to the wildfires by directing all available state fire resources to be utilized for active fires and new starts. These include Wyoming State Forestry helicopter and helitack firefighters, two Single Engine Air Tankers (SEATs), and Wyoming Smokebusters. Much of Wyoming is under Red Flag Warnings or Fire Weather Watch conditions today, which could result in new fire starts and a need for initial attack resources.
The state is also cooperating with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management state-wide, who are providing additional aviation resources, including Large Air Tankers (LATs), SEATS, helicopters, and scooper planes. Ground resources, such as hotshot crews, Type 1 and 2 hand crews, and engines are also being directed for suppression response.
Additional information on the Elk Fire is available by visiting the InciWeb page or the Bighorn National Forest Facebook page. Updates on the Pack Trail Fire may be found on its InciWeb page and from the Bridger Teton National Forest Facebook page.
