Moosefire Update – October 9, 2024

Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team 3

Casey Cheesbrough, operations manager

Reporting date: Friday, September 27, 2024

Cause: lighting

Size: 75,969

Containment: 16%

Total staff: 889

Location: Approximately 6 miles northwest of Dayton and 6 miles southeast of Dayton, Wyoming

Key messages: A community meeting – specifically for Story and Bighorn residents – will be held on Wednesday, October 9, at 7 p.m., at Bighorn High School, 333 WY-335, Sheridan. Participants will be informed about the current status of the fire and evacuations. You also have the opportunity to ask questions and have one-on-one conversations with government officials and fire department managers. The encounter will be recorded and posted on the incident YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/@2024ElkFire) and the Bighorn National Forest Facebook page (Facebook.com/bighornnf).

At 3:00 a.m., fire behavior increased significantly northwest of the Big Goose Water Treatment Plant due to strong, gusty winds and low humidity. Nearby employees working the night shift – a bulldozer, a top crew and eight locomotives – were at the scene. The weather will be warmer and drier today and the fire will likely be more active. Numerous aircraft are responsible for the incident and will divert drops of water and brake fluid.

Current situation: On the north side of the fire, a crack crew conducted additional firing and air operations dropped fire retardant from Street 144 yesterday. Today, crews will continue to prepare Road 144 and conduct additional fire operations to protect Little Bighorn Canyon. The fire is active in this area and smoke is appearing in steep drains.

Containment on the northeast side of the fire increased from 10 percent to 16 percent yesterday. A wildfire containment line is a barrier that prevents the fire from spreading. This can be a natural barrier, such as a river or road, or a constructed barrier, such as a trench dug by firefighters.

Mopping and patrols continue in the Crystal Springs area in the southeast and southern portions of the fire. Firefighters will continue to construct additional control lines and prepare areas for potential strategic low-intensity fire operations that would protect the watershed and associated water treatment plant structures. In the southern part of the fire, road planners are working with firefighters on Red Grade Road and construction protection in the Poverty Flats area continues today.

Structure protection is in place on the west side of the fire in the Burgess Junction area. Firefighters remain on scene to protect buildings and contain the fire if necessary. Heavy equipment will be in the area today to prepare Road 15. If weather conditions are favorable, strategic fire operations can be carried out today.

Weather and fire behavior: Unusually hot and dry conditions will peak on Wednesday. Winds will be from the southwest with gusts of up to 20 miles per hour. The vegetation is extremely dry and prone to burning. Fire activity and smoke production are expected to increase on the west and south sides of the fire. For air quality and smoke information, visit the AirNow website: airnow.gov.

Evacuations and closures:

The Sheridan County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday downgraded the following zone from “Go” to “Set Evacuation Status”: Slack Road at the Montana border and then southwest to the northeast corner of the Kern Elk Refuge, then south to the Forest Service limit . For more information, see the evacuation status map and news release on the Sheridan County Emergency Management website: tinyurl.com/2s38bcc5. You can also call either the Sheridan County Sheriff's Office (307-672-3455) or Sheridan County Emergency Management (307-752-2174).

On Tuesday, the Wyoming Department of Transportation (WYDOT) reduced road closures on US Highway 14 north of Antelope Butte Ski Area and US 14A east of Lovell. To provide access to Hunt Area 40 outside of the Elk Fire closure areas west of Burgess Junction, the Wyoming Highway Patrol moved two manned closures to milepost 85.6 (Hunt Mountain Road/FS10 on US 14A) and milepost 38.3 ( Granite Pass/Hunt Mountain Road). /FS 10 on US 14). Check out the map here: wyoroad.info. Motorists encounter no-access barricades on US 14A at Forest Service Road 14 (Sheep Mountain/Devils Canyon) and FS 15 (Dayton Gulch) within the Forest Service Elk Fire exclusion zone. The Bighorn National Forest, WYDOT and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department are asking motorists and hunters to be aware of firefighting equipment in the area and to familiarize themselves with elk fire boundaries.

Areas of the Bighorn National Forest surrounding the Elk Fire are closed pursuant to Order 02-02-06-24-08. The order and map can be viewed on the forest's alert website: fs.usda.gov/alerts/bighorn/alerts-notices.

Evacuation shelter: An emergency shelter has been set up at the fairgrounds in Sheridan to accommodate numerous people, campers and animals. To make arrangements for people or animals, call 307-752-2174 or 307-683-6965.

Information about moose fire:

Phone: 307-303-7642 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.)

Email: [email protected]: linktr.ee/2024ElkFire