Date: August 14, 2007
Contact: Al Nash, 3-7=344=2010
Contact: Stacy Vallie, 307-344-2012
The East Entrance to Yellowstone National Park is set to re-open to traffic at 8 o’clock Tuesday morning, after being temporarily closed due to the threat posed by the Columbine Fire.
The lightning-caused fire started just before dark last Thursday evening, southwest of Sylvan Pass and the park’s East Entrance road. Gusty winds, hot temperatures and low humidity on Sunday afternoon resulted in very active fire behavior; causing the head of the fire to advance near the East Entrance road.
Park rangers temporarily closed the road at the East Entrance station and the Pelican Creek barricade near Fishing Bridge about 4:15 Sunday afternoon due to the threat of fire near the road. The road remained closed Sunday evening and all day Monday.
Less active fire behavior Monday and a favorable weather forecast for the coming days prompted Incident Commander Mark Grant to recommend the road be reopened to traffic. Rangers will remove road barricades and traffic will be allowed to resume traveling between the East Entrance and Fishing Bridge beginning at 8:00 Tuesday morning.
The Columbine Fire poses no threat to park visitors traveling near or along the East Entrance road. With the reopening of the road Tuesday morning, all park entrances and roads will once again be open to the public. All visitor services including lodging, restaurants, stores, service stations, and visitors centers continued to provide complete visitor services despite the temporary road closure.
Updated Yellowstone National Park road information is available 24 hours a day by calling 307-344-2117.
This is the second time the East Entrance road has been temporarily closed this summer. A small mudslide near Sylvan Pass led to an overnight closure in late July.
Updates on the Columbine Fire are being posted to the web at http://inciweb.org/incident/920/. Recorded information on the Columbine Fire is also available 24 hours a day by calling 307-344-2580.
- www.nps.gov/yell -
