Firefighters wrapping homes, laying hose to protect Gros Ventre from Pack Trail Fire | Environmental | jhnewsandguide.com

Environmental Reporter

Billy Arnold has been covering the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystemand the people who manage it since January 2022. He previouslyspent two years covering Teton County government, and a yearediting Scene. Tips welcomed.

Elk Track Ranch sits below a towering plume of smoke from the Pack Trail Fire.

GROS VENTRE — As the Pack Trail Fire moved down Burnt Ridge, torching pine trees in its path, Chris Fizer pointed to 10 feet of bare ground firefighters had cleared between a fence and the sagebrush hillside north of the Elk Track Ranch.

If the fire got close enough, firefighters planned to climb the hill and set the sagebrush and grasses ablaze with drip torches to rob the fire of fuel, creating a buffer between the blaze, the fence and the rest of the ranch.

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A hose passes between two hay barns Friday morning at the Patrol Cabin Feedground in the Gros Ventre Range to sprinkle water and create a wall of humidity intended to prevent fire from catching they valuable hay as the Pack Trail Fire creeps closer.

Paul Stanley sets up another sprinkler Friday afternoon at Elk Track Ranch as the Pack Trail Fire comes over Burnt Ridge towards the ranch in the Gros Ventre Range. See page 12A for an article about firefighters working to protect structures in the path of the blaze.

Public Information Officer Eric Abramson looks at a map of the Pack Trail Fire on Friday morning in the Gros Ventre Range while driving up to the Elk Track Ranch.

Taylor Camp sits on his porch Friday afternoon at the Elk Track Ranch before continuing to help prepare the ranch for the oncoming Pack Trail Fire. Firefighters have been at the ranch setting up sprinklers and hoses in hopes of deterring the fire from igniting the historic buildings.

The Pack Trail Fire moves over Burnt Ridge and towards Trail Creek on Friday morning in the Gros Ventre Range.

Smoke from the Pack Trail Fire lays thick over Lower Slide Lake on Friday morning in the Gros Ventre Range.

Fiirefighters in a helicopter bring a water bucket back and forth over the Pack Trail Fire on Friday in the Gros Ventre Range.

Matthew Donnelly communicates with other firefighters Friday morning as the Pack Trail Fire comes down over Burnt Ridge towards the Trail Creek Drainage.

Contact Billy Arnold at 307-732-7063 or [email protected].

Environmental Reporter

Billy Arnold has been covering the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystemand the people who manage it since January 2022. He previouslyspent two years covering Teton County government, and a yearediting Scene. Tips welcomed.

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