JACKSON, Wyo. — The Horse Creek Fire burning in Bridger-Teton National Forest (BTNF) is now 50% contained, according to forest officials.
The lightning-caused fire, which sparked on Monday, July 1, has covered 43 acres in the Big Piney Ranger District, about 20 miles south of Bondurant, for over a week now. While the size has stayed the same, the fire has gone from uncontained to half contained.
“When we talk about containment we’re talking about areas where we’ve put in hand line or saw line and we’re pretty confident the fire will not move past that point,” Forest Prevention Officer for BTNF Lex Scanlan told Buckrail.
BTNF has taken back command of firefighting efforts, which it handed off to a Type 3 Incident Management team on Friday, July 12 when its resources were exhausted. The fire was downgraded from Type 3 to Type 4 on Saturday, July 20, meaning it requires a lower level of oversight since a management plan is now in place, according to Scanlan.
“We’ve had really favorable weather the last week and a half with a higher relative humidity and lower temperatures and that’s really allowed us to get the containment that we need,” Scanlan said. “We’re happy with how it’s going and we’re hoping it’s going to continue on its current path.”
Three crews totaling about 40 firefighters are fighting the Horse Creek Fire every day and camping out on the perimeter at night to keep an eye on it, Scanlan said.
The future of the fire and the ability to further contain it will be largely dependent on continuing favorable weather conditions, she said.
Forest visitors are advised that a portion of the the Horse Creek Road west of its intersection with Forest Road 10341 is still closed due to ongoing firefighting in the area, as are several area trails. A map of the closed sections of the forest can be found on BTNF’s alerts and closures page, and signage designating closed areas is posted in the area.
