JACKSON HOLE, WYO – The fire danger rating for Grand Teton NP and Bridger-Teton NF is now listed as ‘high.’ Although that is a downgrade from the previous “very high’ rating, park officials are still concerned about new fire starts.
Recent rain and cooler temperatures across the area have lowered the fire danger; however significant moisture is still needed to reduce the potential for new fire starts and to prevent those starts from becoming larger fires.
The high fire danger rating means fires can start easily and spread quickly. Fire managers use a variety of factors to determine fire danger ratings including the moisture content of grasses, shrubs, and trees; projected weather conditions; and the ability of fire to spread after ignition.
Just yesterday, Teton Interagency Fire managers responded to two new fire starts on the Bridger-Teton National Forest. The human-caused White Rock Fire is currently one-quarter of an acre near Upper Green River Lake. The lightning-caused Beaver Trail Fire is burning one-tenth of an acre near Lookout and Horse mountains in the Wyoming Range. These new fire starts demonstrate that conditions are still ripe for wildland fire.
Abandoned campfires can still escalate into wildfires, and it is important that all campfires are completely extinguished and cold to the touch before campers leave their site.
In addition to responding to smaller local fires, Teton Interagency firefighting and incident management resources have been busy supporting incidents across the western United States.
In recent weeks, interagency staff, incident management teams, fire engines, helicopters, and hand crews have responded to the Britania Mountain Fire in southeastern Wyoming, the Mill Creek 1 Fire in California, the South Sugarloaf Fire in Nevada, the Stewart Creek Fire in Idaho, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park recovery efforts, and other incidents.
