Firefighters are hoping cooler, wetter weather at the end of the week may help slow the spread of the 1,786-acre Clearwater fire burning west of Cody, Wyoming. But gusts and thunderstorms accompanied by wind could increase erratic fire behavior.
The fire in the Shoshone National Forest started July 19 from a lightning strike and slowly expanded to threaten the Highway 14 corridor between Cody and the East Entrance to Yellowstone National Park. Although halted from jumping the highway by a controlled backburn, the corridor is being patrolled by engine crews to stomp out any spot fires.
The Clearwater fire has expanded in the Shoshone National Forest, west of Cody, Wyoming.
Fire crew have also been hustling to protect the UXU Ranch by installing sprinklers, conducting burns and removing fuels.
Several campgrounds along the North Fork Shoshone River have been closed, including Elk Fork, Wapiti and Clearwater. The Elk Fork Road and trail also remain closed.
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The fire is being fought by 110 personnel overseen by one of Wyomingâs Type 3 team. The Wyoming Type 3 teams are organized to manage mid-complexity and longer term ïŹres and include staff from local, state and national organizations.
In Montana, 58 fires were burning as of Monday, Aug. 5, including several new starts in Eastern Montana and the Big Snowy Mountains discovered on Sunday.
Conditions are becoming so dry, even along waterways, that untended campfires are a danger. The Green fire ignited on Aug. 1 along the Missouri River four miles southwest of Wolf Point. The fire burned 12 acres, according to the BIA Fort Peck Agency Fire Management.
âThe fuels are just curing out a lot more,â said Fire Management Officer Adam Wolf. âYou can see the intensity. The rate of spread is going up a lot more. Fire behavior is getting extreme.â
South of Bozeman, 19 smokejumpers moved to keep the Fox Creek fire burning in the Cottonwood drainage from expanding, including using helicopter water drops. Contained at 3.5 acres, the fire was burning on the Custer Gallatin National Forest in steep terrain.
Across the United States, 85 large fires are burning in 12 states. Oregon has the most large fires at 25, followed by California and Idaho with 10. Since the start of the year, 29,132 fires have burned more than 4.67 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Although the number of wildfires is slightly below the 10-year average, the number of acres burned is above the average of 3.83 million acres.
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