It’s night 12 of the Elk Fire, as firefighters continue to make progress in Sheridan County, Wyoming.
The fire is now at about 77,000 acres and 16 percent contained.
“It’s a combination of the wind and the topography that is moving this fire down the front of the mountains,” said Kristie Thompson, Elk Fire public information officer.
The public had a chance to hear about the firefighting efforts at Big Horn High School on Wednesday night.
Many remain on evacuation notice and nearly 900 continue to battle the fire.
“In Big Big Horn, there is no evacuation status,” Thompson said.
Much of the concern has been near the northeast part of the fire near Parkman and Dayton, but with the fire growing, people in the southeast portion have now had to be on alert.
The incident commander emphasized human life, property, and the Big Goose water treatment facility are priorities.
“The biggest priority for the incident management team is looking at how do we minimize impacts into the Big Goose watershed and the Big Goose water treatment facility,” said Thompson. “Both of those feed water into this entire area, specifically the city of Sheridan.”
Thompson said crews will implement some strategic fire actions in Big Goose Canyon.
“To slowly take fire up the hill towards that main body of the fire at a controlled rate,” Thompson said. “So that way, it does not have the energy to quickly burn down the mountain if it ever wanted. It’s a very important resource that we want to protect.”
In Big Horn, a short distance from Sheridan, it’s fairly normal on the football field for the high school team and for the younger kids practicing football as well.
“I think they’ve kind of been monitoring air quality that was spreading really fast a few days ago,” said Tommy Stipula, whose son was practicing with his youth team. “But, it’s slowed down a lot and so we’re not as worried now.”
And that’s a sentiment for others in Big Horn.
“That fire’s got a long way to go before it starts putting things in jeopardy,” said Ivan Stalick, a Big Horn resident.
Stalick has a different thought about the air.
“I mean, air quality as you see is pretty horrible, but we all have to deal with this and let this thing work,” Stalick said.
While residents feel relatively comfortable, they also know the potential dangers and one woman is selling signs to raise money for firefighters.
“I’ve lived out here for over 20 years and I love this community and this town,” said Kitt Laidlaw, who lives in Sheridan. “And in times like this, it’s amazing how people rally together to help.
The firefighters appreciate the citizen support and crews were out protecting structures including the Big Goose water treatment plant.
“If the watershed above it burns very severely or hot, that can generate enough sediment to shut down or impact that water treatment plant,” said Chief Jon Wardner of the Big Horn Volunteer Fire Department. “ So the team is busy thinking about ways to not let that happen and obviously protecting the treatment plan itself. So that’s been a big success there.”
The Story area was moved into a set status for evacuations and citizens will be alerted and law enforcment will be ready to answer questions if necessary.
