Smoky skies are from fires in Montana, Nevada

WORLAND – Bighorn National Forest firefighters are working on a small fire in the Tongue Ranger District.

The lightning-caused Dry Fork Fire, located about eight miles north/northwest of Burgess Junction, was reported yesterday. The fire is burning in heavy down and dead fuel on steep terrain. Today, nine firefighters will construct a line around the fire, which is about 1/10-acre in size. No trails or roads are closed.

A frontal passage over northern Wyoming Tuesday brought smoke from Montana wildfires into the area Wednesday. No large fires are burning in the Bighorns, according to Bighorn National Forest public affairs officer Susie Douglas.

The fire danger in the Bighorns is rated as high, meaning there’s potential for large wildfires, Douglas said in a press release. Though no fire restrictions are in place in the Bighorn National Forest, the Forest Service urges everyone to take extra steps to prevent human-caused fires by never leaving a campfire unattended and making sure your campfire is dead out before you leave the area.

Wildfires can be reported 24 hours a day, seven days a week to Cody Interagency Dispatch Center at 800-295-9954 or by calling 911.

Bighorn National Forest fire information is posted to the forest’s Facebook and Twitter pages at www.facebook.com/BighornNF and http://www.twitter.com/BighornUSFS.

For information about forest conditions, contact Bighorn National Forest offices in Buffalo at 307-684-7806, Greybull at 307-765-4435, or Sheridan at 307-674-2600.

BLM FIRES

The Bureau of Land Management responded to about eight small fires Tuesday across the Big Horn Basin when the thunderstorm rolled through, according Worland BLM Field Office Manager Mike Phillips.

Phillips said fires ranged from off of Black Mountain Road near Ten Sleep, off of South Broken Back and near Hyattville. “All of these were small fires and have been pretty much put out. Some were single trees on fires caused by lightning strikes,” he said.

He said the Devils Canyon hand crew is on the Military Ridge fire because it was the largest fire, but added that they had a handle on the fire.

He said crews were working on the fires Tuesday and Wednesday morning. The rain that came behind the thunder and lightning storm helped. Most fires were limited to under one acre with the largest between 10 to 14 acres.

He said the BLM was going to have a spotter plane out on Wednesday looking for smoke for any new fires or if any of the Tuesday fires reignited.

He said the smoke in the area, from Montana and Nevada wildland fires, would make aerial monitoring difficult.

Phillips said the BLM through the peak of the fire season in August and September would be doing a lot of patrols looking for smoke in order to catch any fires quickly.