Cool weather, rain keep Shoal Creek Fire down

By Joy Ufford jufford@pinedaleroundup.com
Posted 9/3/20

Less than 25 acres burn.

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Cool weather, rain keep Shoal Creek Fire down

Posted

Cooler temperatures, light rain – and a

lot of helpers – kept the Shoal Creek Fire within its original

25-acre perimeter at the south end of Hoback Canyon.

The fire started Sunday, Aug. 30, around 1:45 p.m. when

strong gusts of wind blew a tree onto a power line, knocked it

down and started sparking in light vegetation. The power was

out from Cliff Creek Inn through the Hoback Basin and into

the Upper Green River Basin; power returned at 10:45 p.m.

after a new pole was installed, according to Lower Valley’s

Brian Tanabe.

Strong changing winds, high temperatures and very dry

conditions have led to numerous “red flag warnings” issued

by the National Weather Service before and during the Cliff

Creek Fire.

Passersby on Highway 191 had crossed the Hoback River

and worked to extinguish the flames around the power pole –

part of the 2016 Cliff Creek Fire scar – and Forest Service and

Sublette County fire crews arrived quickly.

Wind sent some embers upward into a rocky gully where

pines, sagebrush and grass burned, also in the old fire scar,

according to Mary Cernicek for the Bridger-Teton National

Forest.

The fire is located about 2 miles north of Bondurant, across

the Hoback River from Cliff Creek Road in the Big Piney

Ranger District.

“There are currently no closures in place related to the

fire,” Cernicek said. “Since the fire has not grown in two days

and the area has received ample precipitation, this will be the

final update on the Shoal Creek Fire unless conditions change

significantly.”

Through the week, hand crews, hotshots, a helitack crew,

helicopter and county and BTNF engines and firefighters

tended to the Shoal Creek Fire, with night temperatures

plunging to freezing. Wednesday’s rainfall helped bring their

efforts to conclusion, Cernicek said.

Thursday, she said, the cause is still “under investigation”

although Lower Valley confirmed a tree had dropped its power

line last Sunday.

Most fire restrictions remain in place at this time.

Restrictions

The Bridger-Teton National Forest has implemented

Stage 1 Fire Restrictions. These restrictions allow fires only

in developed campgrounds and picnic areas in approved

structures along with the Teton and Gros Ventre wildernesses.

Please note that fires are prohibited in the Bridger Wilderness

and all dispersed campsites under this order.

Visit Teton Interagency Fire at www.tetonfires.com to learn

about fire safety and what fire regulations may be in place. To

report a fire or smoke in the area, call 911, Sublette County

dispatch at 307-367-4378 or Teton Interagency Dispatch

Center at 307-739-3630.