On June 28, Yellowstone National Park reported its first wildfire of the 2021 summer season, adding onto the growing number of fires burning across the midwestern United States and Wyoming.
Yellowstone officials announced the park’s first wildfire of the season. The Elk Creek Fire is believed to have begun with a lightning strike and was luckily contained very quickly.
“The fire had to be contained immediately due to its unfavorable position on a ridge. It was either as soon as possible or risk it growing,” said a representative with the US Forest Service.
The Elk Creek Fire burned only 0.1 acres of forest, but it has put the park and Wyoming fire services on high alert.
Aaron Voos, the public affairs specialist with the US Forest Service Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland office in Laramie spoke on the unseasonal-like dry being experienced by Wyoming.
“There just was not enough precipitation to make us feel comfortable. The fire danger is high because of the amount of dry and dead vegetation,” Voos said.
According to data from the National Weather Service, 97.6% of Wyoming is currently experiencing an abnormally dry season. Furthermore, 42.4% of the state sits at a D2 level, indicating severe drought like conditions.
The conditions present in a D2 situation are oftentimes mostly characterized by extremely stressed vegetation. Trees and grass are drying out quickly and dying. Mix into the dilemma high temperatures for the month of June, and the fire hazard in the state is significant.
Two weeks ago, a fire rose in Buffalo, WY called the Robinson fire. While the fire is contained now, the blaze managed to claim a little over a thousand acres.
Incident commander Michael Haydon spoke with the Branding Iron during the event. Now that the incident is contained at 64%, Haydon urges other areas of Wyoming to be ready.
“This is not going to be unique,” Haydon said. “This was a fire that started out by something as simple as a lightning storm and quickly grew out of hands. I think if any fire service is unprepared, they need to fix that now.”
Haydon works for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and has seen the steady rise in fire indicators.
“We are taught to look for these early signs of potential fire danger and we’re seeing a lot now,” Haydon said.
While Wyoming at the moment sits clear of any major event fires, surrounding states are experiencing issues as well.
The Fire Weather and Avalanche Center hosts a web page designed to help users locate and collect data on various wildfires throughout the United States.
A quick look at the interactive map shows a handful of different fire events littering the Southern border with Colorado and Utah. Some fires, such as the West Fire in Colorado which has burned over three thousand acres, are even beginning to extend upwards into Wyoming.
As of June 28, Bighorn National Forestry Service has updated their fire restrictions to Stage 1, indicating that operating chainsaws, fire pits, explosives, or other fire-based tools is prohibited by public personnel.
“With the increasing seasonal fire danger, we are implementing these restrictions to protect public health and safety,” said Bighorn National Forest Supervisor Andrew Johnson in a statement.
As the fire danger is augmented by rising heat and increasing number of dried or dead trees and plants, other Forest Services and BLM agencies are expected to follow suit.
