Cowboy State Daily By Greg Johnson
With Wyoming’s two active wildfires each closing in on 100,000 acres, snow expected for the end of the week can’t come soon enough. Even when it does, fire management officials say it won’t be enough to kill the Elk and Pack Trail fires.
As people across Wyoming and the nation have their focus on the Elk Fire burning in western Sheridan County, the state’s largest active wildfire continues to grow.
It passed the 90,000-acre mark overnight Monday and by Tuesday was an estimated 91,905 acres, growth of nearly 2,600 acres in a day.
While the Elk Fire is the largest active in the state, it might not be for long if the Pack Trail Fire continues the accelerated growth it’s reported the past few days.
As of Tuesday, it had swelled to an estimated 86,555 acres, and together the two fires have burned nearly 180,000 acres in northern Wyoming during an unusual late-season surge.
After awhile, watching the numbers creep up almost becomes like watching a game show, said Diane Mann-Klager, spokesperson for the Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team in charge of fighting the Elk Fire.
In a way, people may be watching in anticipation of the fire hitting 100,000 acres, she said.
“But in this case, it’s not a prize to hit 100,000,” Mann-Klager added.
More Elk Fire
The Elk Fire remains obstinate and frustrating challenge for the 939 team members working it, she said.
“It’s still behaving very much like a teenager,” she said, echoing the analogy coined by Field Operations Chief Adam Ziegler last week.
There was no strategic burning Monday, so the 2,590 acres of growth was all the fire itself, she said.
“It was mostly around the Rapid Creek drainage,” Mann-Klager said about where the Elk Fire has been most active. “It decided to more a little bit in that area.
“We did have a hotshot crew hot an anchor line in there and make sure the fire wasn’t challenging our fire line at all…
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