Free flowing traffic returns to Togwotee as Fish Creek Fire burns to the south

JACKSON (WNE) — Free flowing traffic has returned to Highway 26/287 over Togwotee Pass where the Fish Creek Fire continues to put up smoke columns visible from Jackson.

While a pilot car system has ended, fire officials are asking the public to drive cautiously since numerous firefighters and fire vehicles continue to work along the road.

“We’d ask that people please slow down a bit,” said Cecile Stelter, a public information officer with the Northern Rockies Team 2. “Please do not stop and take pictures. Realize that there’s fire very close to the road.”

As smoke impacts people well beyond the fire’s footprint, now at 22,107 acres, Stelter recommends the public visit AirNow.gov for air quality alerts and predictions, plus tips on how to reduce health impacts from the smoke.

Although the lightning-caused fire is putting up hard-to-miss smoke columns in the afternoon, Stelter said Sunday evening that most of the heavy burning activity is in the Cottonwood Creek area along the fire’s southern edge.

“We want to assure people that fire activity is occurring well within the confinement lines that have been established,” she said. “What is happening down there is the fire is burning into some very receptive fuels, which is some beetle-killed, standing dead snags.”

This story was published on September 9, 2024.