By Billy Arnold
Jackson Hole News&Guide
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

JACKSON — Firefighters on the Pack Trail Fire have ordered evacuations in the Upper Gros Ventre River Drainage east of Goosewing Ranch and told the area near the Darwin Ranch to prepare to evacuate.

The Darwin Ranch is about 12 miles southeast of the Goosewing Ranch and at the far southern end of the drainage typically accessed from Bondurant.

“If you require extra time to evacuate due to special needs, start to LEAVE NOW,” officials wrote in a Monday afternoon text alert.

The evacuation notices were prompted by fire growth in the Trail Creek drainage, which is on the west side of Burnt Ridge and about a mile and half east of the Elk Track Ranch. Until last week, the fire had largely stayed on the easterly side of Burnt Ridge, as prevailing southwesterly winds pushed it more toward the mountains and Dubois. But that changed Friday as embers from the blaze started rolling downhill, torching stands of evergreen in the Trail Creek area.

That pattern continued over the weekend, prompting an evacuation notice from Teton County Emergency Management late Sunday evening. The notice gave residents and hunters in the Upper Gros Ventre until noon Monday to evacuate. Then, on Monday afternoon, officials said residents and hunters in the Darwin area should prepare to evacuate, if necessary. That means the Darwin is in the “Set” stage of the “Ready, Set, Go” evacuation framework. The area east of the Goosewing is now in the “Go” stage, and should be evacuated.

Officials encouraged anyone who knows hunters in either area to let them know.

Eric Abramson, a public information officer with California Interagency Incident Management Team 10, which is managing the fire, said the fire is still burning toward the Elk Track and the Halpins’ neighboring Fish Creek Ranch. Abramson has said a building at the Fish Creek Ranch is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Firefighters have spent the last week installing sprinklers and other fire suppression equipment around structures in both ranches and others down the valley.

“Further work to prep ranches is continuing, and a small burn plan has been planned should it get closer,” Abramson said Monday evening. “They do not feel it will get close enough before the weekend.”

While the fire is still distant, the Darwin area was included “out of caution and to keep the public and firefighters safe,” Abramson said. “We’ve had some close calls on the road with civilian drivers.”

The Pack Trail Fire had consumed 77,559 acres by Monday morning. Firefighters had confined 62% of the blaze. Six hundred and thirty-nine people were working on the fire.