Date: September 13, 2006
Contact: Nash, (307) 344-2010
Contact: Vallie, (307) 344-2012
The National Weather Service has issued a Red Flag Warning for Yellowstone National Park from Noon until 9:00 p.m. Wednesday. A Red Flag Warning means hot, dry, gusty weather conditions are expected which could result in extreme fire behavior. The Fire Weather Forecast calls for gusty west winds, with the relative humidity dropping as low as 15-percent.
This could cause increased fire activity and a visible smoke column from the Magpie Fire, which is burning in the backcountry seven miles southeast of Madison Junction. It has grown about 200 acres in the past week and is now mapped at 3,109 acres. The fire has been burning since mid-July in a stand of mature lodgepole pine forest entirely surrounded by the 1988 North Fork Fire. A few hiking trails in the area remain closed.
The Stinky Fire, burning in the backcountry 19 miles southeast of Tower Junction, remains at 1,010 acres. It has been quiet for several days, is 45-percent contained and is in aerial patrol status. All of the backcountry closures associated with the Stinky Fire were lifted this morning. Details are available online at http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/technical/fire/campclosings.htm or by calling Yellowstone's Backcountry Office at (307) 344-2160.
The fire danger in the park remains high. All visitor services, park entrances and roads are open. None of the park’s fires are a threat to visitors or developed areas in the park.
Smoke from several large, active fires burning well north of the park in south central Montana and to the southwest in Idaho may be visible at times and can contribute to a smoky haze over portions of Yellowstone National Park.
There have been fourteen fires in the park this year. Nine of these were caused by lightning; five were caused by people. Firefighters aggressively work to put out all human-caused fires and any naturally occurring fires when they threaten people or the park’s developed areas.
Fire activity in the park may be monitored by watching the Mount Washburn Fire Lookout Web Cam at http://www.nps.gov/archive/yell/tours/livecams/mtwashburn/index.htm. Updated information on fire activity in Yellowstone National Park is posted to the Wildland Fire section of the park web site at http://www.nps.gov/yell/technical/fire/ and the InciWeb Incident Information System web site at http://inciweb.org.
-www.nps.gov/yell –
