Fighting the Elk Fire
Volunteer Fire Departments Play Huge Role
Ranchester, wYoming
photography contributed by Jeff Barron, Melanie Limpus, and Tessa Ross
Jeff Barron, Fire Chief of the Tongue River Volunteer Fire Department in Ranchester, Wyoming, realized early that this year’s fire season was going to be a long one.
“Everyone worked really intentionally to maintain communication with the community and to keep the camaraderie high,” Jeff said. “There was a mutual respect between all the different departments, the landowners and the communities that went a long way to keeping everyone on the same team.”
“There’s a cycle to fire seasons,” Jeff explained. “About every six years, in general, we have a big fire season. That, along with the dry weather conditions had us anticipating larger fires than usual. Although we had no idea what was going to transpire with the Elk Fire.”
Last year was exceptionally wet in the Big Horn Mountains, and the forest floors and mountain meadows were lush with grasses and brush until fall. The dried undergrowth didn’t green up when a drier spring returned this year, leaving a thick bed of flammable fuel. Coupled with hot, dry temperatures most of the summer and into fall plagued Wyoming with severe fire conditions lasting long past the typical fire season.
In May, Jeff, along with Josh McKinley, Fire Chief of the Clearmont Fire Department, met with several area ranchers and their employees for a training session. The two fire chiefs covered fire behavior, how to approach a large fire and basic radio communication, leaving the ranchers prepped with basic firefighting procedures.
“The early communication with them really set us up for a good relationship when the Elk Fire took off,” Jeff said.
There are six volunteer fire districts in Sheridan County: Tongue River, Dayton, Clearmont, Big Horn, Story, and Goose Valley. The districts are formed through boundaries, with a volunteer fire chief heading each department. The fire chief, in turn, assembles the department and oversees all operations.
Each department serves the town in which the station sits and a part of the 2,500 square miles that encompass Sheridan County. Most of the departments operate with less than twenty volunteers, who also have full-time jobs. Each year, the departments handle hundreds of emergency calls for their services, from wild and structural fires to medical calls, vehicle accidents, rescues and other emergency related incidents. In addition, all the departments provide mutual aid and assistance to each other if needed.
In the case of the Elk Fire, all departments were on hand as were multiple ranchers, and the Forest Service.
Early Friday, September 27, a lone column of smoke was spotted deep in the forest on the front side of the Big Horn Mountains, northwest of Dayton. Ignited by a lightning strike, the fire, soon named Elk Fire, quickly began attacking the tinder dry forest with a vengeance, growing from several acres to thousands within hours.
The Forest Service immediately had aircraft on hand and a crew dispatched. A day later, the Tongue River Volunteer Fire Department and other rural departments were called to a cooperative meeting with the Forest Service Type 3 Team where all possible scenarios were put on the table. At that point, they conjectured a minimal chance of the fire coming down the face of the mountain.
However, the strong weather front which blew in that night quickly extinguished that idea, and the fire began its savage attack backed by the erratic wind refusing to settle down.
“The windstorm took us by surprise for its ability to move the fire so quickly at night,” Jeff said. “The wind came in every direction and hit around the clock. Instead of fighting it offensively, it became a defensive fight and from the beginning, all we could do was decide what we could protect and how can we protect it.”
The angry flames became a mammoth inferno, challenging the firefighters and the residents of Sheridan County in a fight on the Big Horn Mountains like never seen before. As the Elk Fire gained strength, defense was the only option and for weeks firefighters, ranchers, and residents were at its mercy as containment was hopeless.
The small volunteer fire departments and area ranchers diligently fought to save structures and attempt containment with backfires. These locals became heroes as their efforts saved all but two homes in the foothills and low-lying forest of the mountain front.
Weariness began to set into the communities of Parkman, Dayton, Ranchester and Sheridan as they watched the glowing fire by night and heavy smoke during the day. To show appreciation, community members reached out to the firefighters with moral support offering cards and signs and much appreciated meals, water, and donations.
“Everyone worked really intentionally to maintain communication with the community and to keep the camaraderie high,” Jeff said. “There was a mutual respect between all the different departments, the landowners and the communities that went a long way to keeping everyone on the same team.”
A month after it started, the Elk Fire had consumed much of the east side of the beautiful Big Horn Mountains, burning close to 97,000 acres and 17 structures. The cost to fight it has exceeded $43 million.
“It’s miraculous that no lives were lost,” Jeff said. “And just two homes.”
By late October, the fire finally ceased spreading, and the crew of over 1,000 shrunk to almost half the size. The volunteer crews returned to their jobs, and the communities began settling back to normal, though with a cautious eye on the mountain.
“Some of those logs will burn for months,” Jeff said, “So we’ll watch it all winter. Next year there’s concern over the watershed. The Tongue River is where Ranchester and Dayton pull their water from, and the spring runoff could cause flooding.”
A BAER (Burned Area Emergency Response) team is actively assessing the fire’s damage to determine what strategies need to take place moving forward. As mop up begins, crews will cold-trail the burned area, feeling for heat with their hands and detecting visually and with thermal detectors for any remaining hot or glowing embers which could rekindle the fire.
A barrier of black around the perimeter of the fire in chains thirty-three feet wide will be made to further safeguard against flare ups by ensuring that no roots, tree trunks or any other flammable materials are still burning. The effort is expected to run into next summer while remediation on dozer and blade lines progresses.
“The fire moved so fast in some areas that it didn’t have a chance to sterilize the soil in its path,” Jeff said. “In those areas germination of grasses and trees will take place quicker, in other areas it will take longer to come back. At the end of the day, it isn’t how we wanted it to happen, but I’m proud of the contribution we made to fighting it and how the community stepped up to help out.”
Ascending Highway 14, travelers will see patches of green dotting the mountainside where spared trees stand against the blackened death of burned areas. By spring many of the meadows will be covered in wild flowers and native grasses. The Elk Fire ravaged the eastern front, and the majestic Big Horn Mountains may take on a new appearance and personality, but they will forever remain the heart of Sheridan County.
