The Willow Creek Fire, which was first reported on August 22, is now nearly fully contained according to to the most recent update from officials with the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
On Wednesday September 10, the fire is being described as 96% contained having burned 4,066 acres in that time.
The fire ballooned on its opening weekend to over 3,000 acres, prompting a the closure of U.S. 89 south of Smoot for several hours and forcing the evacuation of several area homes in the area. Many other homes were placed on ‘Set’ status for several days while more than 400 personnel have battled the fire.
Officials have anticipated that the fire would be fully contained by September 15. Fire containment numbers remained unchanged at 73% for the past several days with Wednesday’s update representing a big jump in that effort.
As of Wednesday, the Bridger-Teton noted that “widely scattered showers on Tuesday largely missed the fire area, allowing firefighters to continue patrolling lines and working to increase containment to 96%. Fire lines are being monitored for snags and any sources of heat that could threaten containment. Crews working with Resource Advisors and utilizing heavy equipment are repairing roads, trails, and fire lines used during suppression. As tactics change from suppression to repair, additional hand crews are not being ordered to replace firefighters that return home after finishing their 14-day assignment.”
WEATHER:
Wednesday will be a critical fire weather day, with relative humidity nearing 25% and gusty winds up to 25 miles per hour. Any remaining areas of heat may flare up and produce visible smoke. Low pressure will move into the area Thursday, bringing a good chance of rain over one-quarter of an inch on Friday and into the weekend.
EVACUATION/CLOSURE INFORMATION
The most current closure order for the Willow Creek Fire can be found at Wybtf Willow Creek Fire Incident Closures | InciWeb (wildfire.gov). This is an area of National Forest land generally south of Smoot and west of Highway 89.
