Progress made on Hatchery Fire

TEN SLEEP – The Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team Black who assumed command of the Hatchery Fire located about seven miles east of Ten Sleep, held a public meeting Sunday evening to update resident on the fire, evacuations and road closures.

"This fire started Friday afternoon and in fairly short order grew quickly, moving up the canyon and into the open," Washakie County Fire Warden Chris Kocher stated during the meeting which was in the Ten Sleep School gymnasium. "This fire is currently 2,733 acres and we are showing that we have it 40 percent contained now," he added.

According to the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team, "The Hatchery Fire is burning in rugged, steep terrain among pinion-juniper, sagebrush, grasses and mixed conifer forest. Though temperatures were warm, and relative humidity values in the mid-teens, light winds assisted fire operations today (Sunday). Fire crews continued to construct direct and indirect fire lines across the fire perimeter. Aviation resources supported fire crews working in the Ten Sleep Canyon area with bucket drops to cool hot spots and reduce spotting potential."

The fire was originally fought by a type three team and transitioned to a type two team. "Once we got through the Saturday shift we transitioned to the type two team (Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team), the black team Sunday morning," Kocher said.

Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team Information officer Brett Haberstick explained the difference between a type two and type three team. "The big designation between the two (type two and type three) are the level of complexity of the incident. Level of complexity is measured, in a fire situation, by the potential for growth that the fire has, if it does grow what is it going to meet, what are the values at risk. In the Hatchery Fire it was sage brush, natural resources, it was lodges or structures, it was popular climbing sites, and it was other recreation sites, so there were a lot of values at risk and if the fire got into that it would have significant negative impact on people. Complexity also deals with the amount of resources that it's going to take for depression activities to achieve its goal, containing the fire. So that could be the number of firefighters, the number of crews that the incident has, it could be the number of engines the fire has working on it. It could be the number of airplanes the fire has working on it and all of that necessitates a management group that is focused into teams, and has a history of working together, ideally, in order to be able to make a coherent effort behind the operational structure and the plans and the goals," he said.

Haberstick added, "So, the difference between a type two and three comes to complexity. Type threes tend to be smaller organizations, they tend to be state supported or local. In the case of this type three it was local resources with a trained incident commander at a type three level. Type three organizations don't necessarily have the degree of cohesion as a type two but type three organizations can definitely be ones that work closely together at a moment's notice. For a type two it's just a larger management structure that can deal with the complexity of the issues."

Haberstick gives the local fire departments a lot of credit in the way they approached the fire; Ten Sleep, Worland and BLM. "The type three organization here was a great organization to come in and work with. They did a really good job of laying down a plan that our operations folks have just continued on and really, credit goes to them for all the hard work they did on day one and two," Haberstick said.

U.S. Highway 16 and other roads were closed along with businesses and campgrounds with mandatory evacuations, Friday evening for fire operations and public safety. Mandatory evacuations were in effect for the Dear Haven, West Ten Sleep Lake, all cabins on the West Ten Sleep lake road, fish hatcheries, Meadowlark Lake Lodge, campgrounds around Meadowlark Lake were evacuated, according to a Facebook post by Washakie County Sheriff Steve Rakness. The restrictions were lifted around noon Monday with South Broken Back Road remaining closed.

During the meeting Worland Bureau of Land Management Field Manager Mike Phillips explained the decision to close roads. "As saw from Friday to now there has been quite a change. We've had a lot of experts with the teams out there on the fire line bringing forth all those resources to protect what we have. Safety is our No. 1 priority. We had to close a couple roads, South Broken Back Road and North Broken Back Road," Phillips said.

North Broken Back Road opened Sunday evening because it was not threatened anymore. "At the beginning of this there were high winds that were blowing the fire in that direction so we needed to have a defensible line." Phillips said.

During the meeting questions were raised about the origin of the fire. "The cause of the fire is still under investigation," Kocher stated.

According to a Facebook post by Rakness on Sunday, "At this time we do not know how the fire was started, it was not due to a campfire or campfire related. The exact cause of the fire is still under investigation. If anyone has information regarding the start of this fire, please contact the US Forest Service, BLM, Washakie County Sheriff's Office, Big Horn County Sheriff's Office or the Fire Departments here in Worland and in Ten Sleep."

We won't be able to tell what started the fire until we get down on our hands and knees where the fire started and go over it with a fine tooth comb, Wyoming Forest Service Law Enforcement Officer Forrest Tellock said after the meeting.

The next update on containment will be received around 6 or 7 p.m Monday evening from the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team. The update was not received by press time Monday.