ALPINE, Wyo. — Fires flared across Wyoming over the weekend, prompting a voluntary evacuation of summer and ranch homes near Alpine on the Idaho border and threatening an oilfield complex near Meeteetse.
The 475-acre Alpine fire, which led authorities to ask residents of about 40 homes to be evacuated, was believed to have started from lightning Saturday. It is two miles southwest of Alpine in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest and burning on both sides of the state line.
A federal firefighting team that specializes in hard-to-control fires arrived because of the threat to homes, plus prime conditions for strong fire advances: extremely dry forest, strong, gusty winds and temperatures in the 80s.
Monday, 294 firefighters were on the fire plus 13 engines and one helicopter.
About 35 homes in Idaho and six in Wyoming, all near Palisades Reservoir, were threatened.
"They asked people to leave," fire information spokesman Lynn Ballard said, "There are a few folks that refused to leave or for whatever reason they decided to stay on."
A 2,000-acre blaze 15 miles south of Meeteetse, one of the largest in Wyoming this summer, was making significant runs, the National Interagency Fire Center said. It was threatening ranch property and an oilfield complex.
About 100 firefighters had contained 10 percent of the fire.
In the Bridger-Teton National Forest, a campground was evacuated near Boulder Lake and nearby trails were closed because of a 350-acre fire.
Officials said retardant drops were effective at holding the north and east flanks of the blaze, about 12 miles east of Pinedale.
The fire was 35 percent contained and 24 firefighters and one helicopter were working it.
The Alpine fire was on the south side of Palisades Reservoir, which straddles the Idaho-Wyoming border about 25 miles southwest of Jackson. It nearly surrounds the hamlet of Alpine.
A six-mile stretch of McCoy Creek Road, which hugs the south side of the lake, was closed along with some campgrounds. Douglas fir, subalpine fir and lodgepole pine were burning.
"On the east end (of the fire) it's burned right down to the reservoir, or where the reservoir would be if it were full," Ballard said.
The reservoir, built to serve irrigation needs but also a popular recreation site, has been drawn down because of drought.
The blaze and another fire north of Ashton, Idaho, which was contained Sunday, were putting up large plumes of smoke visible from Grand Teton National Park.
The fires were discovered about 3 p.m. Saturday in areas where lightning storms had moved through.
A fire discovered Saturday in the northeast corner of Grand Teton National Park was contained at seven acres the same day. It may have been smoldering since lightning struck the area Wednesday, Anzelmo said.
Two helicopters with water buckets and five wildland engine crews quickly responded after smoke was spotted.
The fire in Eynon Draw was about five miles southeast of Moran. No structures were threatened.
Several small fires continued to burn in Yellowstone National Park. They were not a threat to any structures or attractions and were each less than a quarter-acre.
On the Net:
National Interagency Fire Center: www.nifc.gov