Firefighters hold the line on Togwotee

JACKSON (WNE) — The Fish Creek Fire approached the 25,000-acre mark Tuesday, amid red flag conditions. But firefighters have held the line at the Togwotee Pass highway, reopening the vital link between Jackson and Dubois.

Much of the fire growth has happened on the southwest side of the fire in the Cottonwood Creek area, according to Emily Ficker, a spokesperson for the fire management team.

“If anybody’s been seeing a big column of smoke, that’s where that has been happening,” Ficker said Tuesday. “There’s a lot of dead beetle-killed trees in that area that are burning.”

Last week, firefighting crews conducted an aerial ignition operation aimed at preventing the lightning-caused fire, burning since mid-August, from jumping the highway and threatening the 102-year-old Brooks Lake Lodge and guest cabins as well as summer homes north of the road.

From a helicopter, crews dropped hardly visible ping pong balls, a mix of potassium permanganate and antifreeze. When the balls hit the ground, they fizzled and sparked low-intensity fires, which created a burned barrier between the main body of the fire and Highway 26/287 over the heavily forested mountain pass.

Crews lined up along the highway and watched the hillside north of the road for spot fires. A couple of spot fires jumped onto the north side of the road on Tuesday, Ficker said.

The spot fires “were caught quickly and put out, so they were not in any danger of going anywhere,” she said.

“There could be some torching of trees, whether single tree or a cluster of trees, but they’re back far enough from the road that they’re not a danger to passing motorists,” Ficker said. 

Last week, fire activity closed the highway for five days. The road reopened Friday with maintenance crews running pilot cars to guide motorists as smoke limited visibility.

This story was published on September 11, 2024.