ALTA, Wyo. — The Board of County Commissioners (BCC) voted unanimously on Monday to adopt partial fire restrictions in areas of western Teton County, which will go into effect July 30 until withdrawn by the County Fire Warden.
The partial restrictions will prohibit open fires in the unincorporated parts of Teton County west of the Teton Range, commonly known as the Alta area. In the measure, the County Fire Warden warned that the fire danger in that area is “very high due to the drought.” Per the resolution, campfires within an established ring, refuse fires in a container and portable stoves may still be lit with a 15-foot radius cleared of burnable materials.
The resolution states: “This decision is based on a number of factors, including the predicted fire potential, the number of regional fire starts, conditions of the fuels, available resources, an expected increase in human activity and the need for consistent fire danger messaging within Teton Valley.”
Jackson Hole Fire/EMS Battalion Chief Mike Moyer proposed the measure to the BCC at a public voucher meeting on the morning of Monday, July 28. The issue was raised in cooperation with Teton County (Idaho), which recently enacted a fire ban in the Teton Valley area due to increased fire risk and limited firefighting resources.
When asked to compare conditions on the west side of Teton Pass with conditions on the east side, Moyer responded: “While we’re getting closer to that trigger point, we’re not quite there, based on some of the moisture we’ve received in the last couple weeks and some of the cooler weather we had. However, I do expect it’s likely that we’ll be coming to you with fire restrictions for the remainder of Teton County in the near future.”
