JACKSON (WNE) — A hillside fire earlier this month was human caused, according to the Jackson Hole Fire Marshal.
The blaze started at 3:20 p.m. June 5 on the hillside behind Cutty’s Bar and Grill after dead overgrowth caught fire on private property. Fourteen firefighters extinguished the quarter-acre blaze within 20 minutes.
A controlled burn was reported in that area the same day, but Battalion Chief Brian Coe said that a controlled burn was not related to the fire’s cause.
Both Fire Marshal Raymond Lane and Coe declined to provide further details about how the June 5 fire started.
“We definitely encourage people to play it safe when doing anything with fire on their property,” Lane said. “Always have a water source nearby, and never leave your fires unattended.”
Lane is asking the community to participate in revising Teton County’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Jackson Hole Fire/EMS is welcoming input regarding wildfire concerns, highly valued resources, personal preparedness efforts and general community awareness.
“The plan also goes into evacuation plans,” Coe said. “All of the things we can do as a community to be prepared.”
Fire/EMS is working in collaboration with the Teton Area Wildfire Protection Coalition to help identify and recommend measures to make buildings and structures more fire resilient, Coe said, and to identify fuel reduction efforts such as overgrown forests and dead trees.
The U.S. Forest Service leads WildfireRisk.org and has determined that Teton County has a high risk of wildfire, higher than 84% of communities in the U.S.
