The awesome, scary power of a forest fire

The seemingly unstoppable Elk Fire is nothing short of heartbreaking as the blaze continues to spread rapidly in rugged terrain and tinder dry timber on the eastern flank of our beautiful Bighorn National Forest while also pushing west at times nearly to Burgess Junction.

What started as a small blaze sparked by a lightning strike on September 27 has grown exponentially in a forest that hasn’t seen meaningful precipitation for many weeks, with unseasonal high temperatures and swirling winds exacerbating the situation.

As of Wednesday, the fire was 16 percent contained and had consumed nearly 76,000 acres, with 889 firefighting crew members battling the blaze.

Forest Supervisor Andrew Johnson put the massive fire in perspective during a community meeting Sunday evening in Ranchester, noting that the previous largest fire in the Big Horns over the last 100 years of forest management burned some 18,000 acres, and it took a month to reach that size, but last Friday night, due to a front with 50 mph winds, the fire grew by 25,000 acres in a matter of hours.

It must be an incredibly helpless feeling for people whose homes are in the path of the fire, depending on the wind direction. Two homes in the Dayton area burned a few days ago, and as of early this week 3,000 structures were placed under evacuation warnings in the area, with 500 already evacuated. The Forest Service is using a “ready, set, go” notification and evacuation status system.

Among the threatened structures are the cabins of the historic Willow Hollow camp, formerly Camp Bethel, now owned by Todd and Emily Simmons of Cowley. They were allowed one hour last Thursday – initially 15 minutes but expanded -- to go in and take out irreplaceable paperwork and essential, valuable items. As of midweek, the fire is about two miles away from the camp.

Thankfully, the Forest Service fire crews have been proactive in protecting structures as best they can. In the case of Willow Hollow, the Forest Service has put in place huge pumpkin tanks ready to spray water on the 70-year-old structures (18 total) in case the fire threatens the camp. A fire line was bulldozed around the camp, as well.

My daughter and son-in-law spent weeks in a motel when a large fire threatened the town of Three Rivers and National Park Service housing in Sequoia National Park a few years ago. They would tell you that living with three pets in a motel room was not their idea of fun, but at least their home was spared.

Many folks can remember the disastrous Yellowstone fires of 1988 that also peaked in the late summer and early fall. We felt at the time that Yellowstone would never be the same, but 35 years later, the new growth throughout the park is evident. But 76,000 acres burned in our forest seems unbearable. And who knows what the effect will be on the elk population.

In our modern age, we think we are in control, but Mother Nature can wreak havoc with fires, hurricanes (ask the Southeast), floods, volcanoes, tornadoes and more. The destructive power of such events is as awe-inspiring as it is traumatic.

Here’s to all those fire crew members – nearly 900 as of Wednesday – putting their lives on the line to halt the monstrous fire. We can only hope and pray that our forest can bounce back from the disaster.