Yellowstone managing six wildfires

BOUNDARY FIRE
The estimated size of the Boundary Fire in Yellowstone National Park has been reduced to 191 acres. Firefighters said they made good progress Wednesday constructing lines around the fire’s edge.

Spot fires found on Tuesday were completely mopped up.

An additional 20-person, Type 2 attack crew was scheduled to begin arriving Thursday. Firefighters expect to secure the perimeter of the fire and begin working to the interior. 90 firefighters are already assigned to the fire.

The Custer-Gallatin National Forest has issued an area closure on forest lands direct west of Yellowstone National Park. It includes the intersection of Highway 191 and Duck Creek Road to the park boundary, including the fishing access road at the end of Duck Creek Road.

There are five other fires burning within what Yellowstone is calling the Tatanka or Buffalo Complex. Lightning created a new fire on Mount Holmes. A helicopter dropped several buckets of water on what they believe was one tree in the Grayling Creek area.

FAWN Fire
The Fawn fire was estimated at 12,199 aces. It is 1 mile east of the Gneiss Creek trail.

BUFFALO Fire
The Buffalo fire is estimated at 2,089 acres. It is located about 5 miles northeast of Tower Junction.

FAWN Fire
The Fawn fire is estimated at 1,000 acres about 11 miles west of Mammoth Hot Springs.

MAPLE Fire
A Fire Behavior Assessment team will begin installing instruments on the Maple Fire Thursday. The team is a module with the capability to collect fuel and active fire behavior data. Fire managers and ecologists are using that information to learn about fire behavior in areas that were burned by the 1988 Yellowstone fires.