Berry Fire causing Yellowstone tourists to change plans

UPDATE 8/23/16 8:45 a.m.

The Berry Fire in Grand Teton National Park is now mapped at 6,819 acres.

Flagg Ranch Campground and Headwaters Lodge was evacuated Tuesday morning due to the potential for continued fire growth to the north. Highway 89 remains closed at Leeks Marina and the south entrance to Yellowstone.

All other businesses and facilities are operating as usual.

ORIGINAL STORY:

The Berry Fire in Grand Teton National Park is now at more than 6,300 acres and has caused road closures that are not letting anyone travel to Yellowstone National Park through the southern entrance and Jackson.

The easiest and quickest ways up to Yellowstone from Jackson are closed, so tourists’ plans have either fallen through completely, or they are going to take a very long detour to get up to the national park.

“So we were up kind of north in the park, and then they closed down 191, so we have to go all the way back around and up and take, like, five extra hours now. So, a lot more time than we were expecting,” said Kevin Blackett, a tourist from Rapids City, South Dakota.

The Berry Fire is labeled as severe, and evacuations are taking place at Flagg Ranch and Lizard Creek areas. Those touring around the fire zone are being asked to leave as well.

“While we were there, we could see all the smoke and even the brightness from the flames going out from the Madison Junction out toward back to West Yellowstone. But it didn’t interfere with anything we were doing, but you could see it there. You could see the firefighters,” said Tim Borkowski, of Toledo, Ohio.

Portions of U.S. Highways 89, 191 and 287 are closed in both directions between Flagg Ranch and Leeks Marina. They are closed indefinitely due to very high fire danger and active fires along the roadways.

“We thought we were pretty much already here, ’cause you know we’re in the north end of Teton so we thought we were right there. We’re probably about 30 minutes away, and now we got to go five hours around,” Blackett said.

“We got to this here area on the 20th,” Borkowski said. “‘Nice, got out just in time,’ I said. Just in time because today — we got an alert this morning. In fact, on my phone. They’re closing 89. We’d have to take the long way around,” Borkowski finished.

So for now, many tourists have to make different plans.

“We’ve had a lot of time that we can kill, so it’s just an extra way to get there. But it’s definitely going to take a lot longer now,” said Blackett.

Since this is a natural fire, officials say they are letting it burn out in the backcountry where nothing is being threatened. I asked why they are not fully fighting the fire, and they told me they are using a method called point projection. They are only protecting facilities, campgrounds and roads, and are managing the fire primarily on safety.

If you had reservations in the now-evacuated areas and are stranded, call 1-800-443-2331 for alternative accommodations.

The city of Jackson is still fire-free and open to enter.