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Gunbarrel roars
By Carole Cloudwalker
This document was published online on Monday, August 04, 2008
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| Wyoming Hotshots firemen Beau Kidd (left) and Dan Rowsom of Greybull keep watch below the Gunbarrel Fire after they started a burnout operation Saturday across from Blackwater Lodge. (Photo by Ken Blackbird) |
The Gunbarrel Fire marched steadily down wilderness in the North Fork corridor through beetle-killed timber during the weekend, moving as far east as the Sweetwater and Horse Creek drainages.
By Monday the fire had charred 25,000-plus acres, primarily in the North Absaroka Wilderness, a forest spokesman said.
Firefighters struggled during the weekend to successfully protect cabins on Moss and Aspen creeks and one cabin on No Name Creek.
An unoccupied doghouse in the Moss Creek drainage, about four miles east of Absaroka Mountain Lodge, was the only structure lost as of Monday despite the proximity of the fire to the lodges, a Shoshone Forest spokesman said.
On Friday the fire had moved as far south as the north edge of Absaroka Mountain Lodge's developed area and was slightly less than one-half mile north of Elephant Head Lodge.
Both lodges were evacuated, and an evacuees' center was established in the Wapiti School parking lot. (As of Monday noon, Elephant Head was open to the public and Absaroka was open only to employees, pending fire conditions.)
At the school, guests who had spent the day in Yellowstone Park could pick up their luggage, which lodge employees had packed for them when the evacuation order was issued.
The fire reached the north edge of the North Fork Highway between Absaroka and Elephant Head lodges but officials said it remained north of the highway with the exception of two tiny spot fires that were immediately extinguished.
“A main priority is to keep the fire north of the highway,” said Ben Brack, public information officer working with the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team that has taken control of the fire.
The road remained open Monday, but possible pilot car escorts and traffic delays in the fire area were likely, Brack said.
He said some “burnout” operations occurred near Elephant Head and Absaroka lodges during the weekend in an attempt to hold the fire at the highway.
Structure protection was completed at Moss Creek, about four miles east of Absaroka Lodge. Cabin owners in Moss Creek were escorted to their properties for a few hours Monday morning.
Residents, campers and other people using the North Fork Highway (US 14-16-20) between the east border of the Shoshone Forest and Chimney Rock were cautioned by fire officials to be prepared in case any new evacuations became necessary within the next few days.
The Gunbarrel Fire continued to spread eastward, at times rapidly, driven by “erratic winds” and a cold front moving through that could cause the fire to move toward the highway, Brack said.
During the weekend an advisory was issued for the canyon corridor from Chimney Rock to the Wapiti Ranger Station, and was later extended further eastward to the forest boundary near Grizzly Ranch.
A forest spokesman said Monday campers in Wapiti, Clearwater, Rex Hale and Newton Creek campgrounds were evacuated to Eagle Creek campground and the recently re-opened Three-Mile Campground because of heavy smoke in the area. The campgrounds and the Fishhawk Trailhead have been closed to the public due to the fire.
Late last week a team was assessing the former Sweetwater Lodge to see if it was a defensible spot, though the drainage was blanketed in heavy smoke Monday and it was unclear what action, if any, was being taken there as the fire moved in.
A fire camp for about 200 firefighting personnel has been established in the meadow near Wapiti Ranger Station.
Four helicopters were assigned to the fire Monday, Brack said.
He said the helicopters were refueling and staging in a field at Copperleaf Subdivision, where they also were drawing water from ponds.
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j kidd wrote on Aug 6, 2008 8:27 PM: