Lightning Caused Fire Explodes Above Bondurant Wyoming [GALLERY]
Another lightning caused fire was discovered Sunday afternoon at approximately 2:30pm just north of Bondurant, Wyoming. Inciweb describes he fire as growing from 5 to 15 acres in size in the first hour to now a fire covering more than 2200 acres in the Bridger-Teton National forest. The fire is being called the Cliff Creek Fire.
Inciweb goes on to describe how the fire is being fought.
The fire is burning in thick, continuous fire and is torching groups of trees. Group torching is when a stand of trees become engulfed in fire and all burn up at the same time, causing large flames in the treetops.
The Bridger-Teton has ordered a Type 1 firefighting crew and a Type 1 helicopter.
Handcrews are a diverse team of career and temporary agency employees with solid reputations as multi-skilled professional firefighters. The crews consist of 18 - 20 men and women and serve as the infantry of wildland fire forces. Working side by side, the crews main responsibilities are to construct a “fireline” – a strip of land cleared of flammable materials and dug down to mineral soil – around wildfires to control them, burn out fire areas, and mop up after the fire. Type 1 handcrews crews draw specialized assignments that reflect their higher levels of experience and training, and they're dispatched nationwide to fires. Type 1 helicopters carry 15 or more passengers and carry 700 gallons of water or more.
Pinedale resident and photographer David J. Bell described it like this.
Cliff Creek Fire. This fire exploded onto the scene on Sunday afternoon from a lightning strike, nearly adjacent to the highway. The Bridger-Teton Fire Management had an engine on the fire within thirty minutes, but could not outrun the fire due to extreme fire conditions and gusty winds. The fire jumped Highway 189/191 and began burning along the highway on both sides and has now spread to over 2,000 acres and is essentially two separate fires each going their separate directions. We appreciate all of you, and you certainly have your hands full with this monster!
At this time Hwy 189/191 remains closed and some residents and a campground have been evacuated.