Fires merge, threaten evacuations in the Upper Gros Ventre

High winds over weekend turned two fires into one.

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A plume from fires threatening several ranches in the Upper Gros Ventre is visible over Sheep Mountain. (Emily Cohen / KHOL)

by Dante Filpula Ankney | Oct 7, 2024 | Wildfires

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Teton County officials are urging residents of the Upper Gros Ventre to prepare to evacuate after the Fish Creek Fire and the Pack Trail Fire merged over the weekend, threatening multiple ranches.

The fires are now being managed as one and grew significantly over the weekend due to high winds — some gusts reaching 60 miles per hour. Together, they’ve burned over 50,000 acres. Fire officials don’t have an updated containment percentage of the fires since the merger as of Sunday evening.

The highway over Togwotee Pass remains open as of Sunday evening but smoke from the fire could limit driver visibility. Fire officials raised the fire danger rating to “very high” throughout Bridger-Teton National Forest late last week. Parts of it and Shoshone National Forest remain closed due to fire activity.

Fremont County evacuation notices remain in place for an about 12-mile stretch of roadway west of Dubois including several ranches and subdivisions.

Updated information on the fire is available online at Inciweb.Wildfire.gov and Teton County emergency alerts are available at TCIncident.org.

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About Dante Filpula Ankney

Dante Filpula Ankney comes to KHOL as a lifelong resident of the Mountain West. He made his home on the Eastern Montana prairies before moving to the Western Montana peaks to study journalism and wilderness studies. Dante has found success producing award-winning print, audio and video stories for a variety of publications, including a stint as a host at Montana Public Radio. Most recently, he spent a year teaching English in Bulgaria through a Fulbright Fellowship. When he isn’t reporting, you can find Dante outside scaling rocks, sliding across snow or winning a game of cribbage.