JACKSON, Wyo. — On Monday, Dec. 9, the Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF) released its roundup for wildfires in 2024.
“No matter how you slice it, this was a big fire year on the BTNF,” the BTNF writes.
According to the BTNF, there were 59 fire starts on the Forest this summer, including 38 natural and 21 human-caused. This is compared to only 11 last year.
Due to active response teams, the BTNF reports most of those fires were extinguished before getting very big, but a few did:
- The Leeds Creek Fire near Union Pass grew to 780 acres.
- The Merna Butte Fire west of Pinedale grew to 153 acres and required evacuation for several nearby homeowners. Fortunately, no structures were lost.
- The Fish Creek and Pack Trail fires, both in the Mount Leidy Highlands and Gros Ventre mountains northeast of Jackson, were the most notable. They eventually merged into one, burning a total acreage of about 90,000 acres.
The Pack Trail Fire was the largest fire on the BTNF since the infamous fires of 1988, the BTNF reports, when the Huck and Mink Fires burned just over 100,000 acres each in the Teton Wilderness south of Yellowstone National Park.
The Fish Creek Fire started on Aug. 16, with the Pack Trail Fire starting on Sept. 15. They collectively burned until winter snows arrived on Nov. 6.
“What was especially notable about this fire season was that we had August-like weather conditions through October,” said BTNF Jackson District Ranger Todd Stiles in a press release. “We had hot, dry and windy conditions making fuels very receptive to fire, even the heavy fuels. And, like many forests across the West, we have expansive areas of standing dead timber, primarily due to beetle kill.”
According to Stiles, there were no significant injuries due to the Pack Trail Fire. There were also no structures lost except an old cow camp cabin that was not in use.
Stiles also noted that while this fire was larger than had been seen on the BTNF for a while, people should expect more fire seasons like this in the future.
“With the way our climate and weather is trending, projections are for more fire seasons like we just saw,” Stiles said in the BTNF posted update. “We’re already seeing longer fire seasons, especially hotter, drier weather lasting later in the season, like this year. We must remember that fire has always been a natural part of the landscape here. We just need to be prepared to manage it as best we can, and strategically plan and carry out projects to proactively remove fuel near critical values and communities.”
