Summer wildfire burns on North Fork

CODY (WNE) — Lightning ignited the first significant wildfire of the summer on the North Fork, which was spotted last Friday afternoon.

The Clearwater Fire was reported around 4:30 p.m. on the Wapiti Ranger District of the Shoshone National Forest and is estimated at five acres.

While there have been other smaller fires this summer, “this is the first with some complexity,” Evan Guzik, SNF public information officer, said Monday.

It’s located high on a ridge with limited places to land a helicopter and difficult to reach by hiking, so “it would take a Herculean effort to rescue a person,” he said. “We’re not willing to put firefighters at risk.”

A type-3 team has been ordered to develop a plan and provide overhead and support as well as additional firefighting resources.

The cause of the fire has been determined to be lightning from storm cells that came through the area Thursday afternoon.

The fire is located on a ridge line between the Elk Fork and June Creek drainages, about one mile south of the Clearwater Creek Campground. Due to the location, steep terrain and expected weather, it is not safe to directly engage the fire at its edge.

Forest officials are asking the public to be on the lookout for increased responder traffic in the Wapiti area and along the North Fork Highway.

The fire danger on the Shoshone is currently rated “Very High.” It is important for everyone to remain vigilant with any possible ignition sources to include vehicle mufflers on tall grass, dragging tow chains and campfires.

For other updates on the forest, visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/shoshone.

This story was published on July 23, 2024.