The wild fire burning south of York near Canyon Ferry Dam has now grown to nearly 13,000 acres with about 10% containment, according to data available in Inciweb.
The fire, which started July 9th and is apparently human-caused, grew in size during the past few days due to an abundance of fuels in the area combined with high temperatures, low humidity and gusty winds. The fire is being managed by a Type III complex incident team from the US Forest Service, and now lists that nearly 600 personnel are involved.
Scott Schuster, the Incident Commander for the Forest Service, is directing his teams to continue to maintain fire lines on the west, south and east flanks of the fire, where he reports some suppression success during the past 2 days. Fire crews continue to provide structure protection in the area, but evacuation orders are now on a voluntary basis. Schuster says the fire is moving at a moderate rate of spread, and is hoping that spread will slow as the fire reaches higher elevations on the mountain slopes, finding less combustible fuel. Aviation resources are still in heavy use to slow the fire spread. Schuster expressed some concerns about the 12-24 hour weather forecast, which includes possible afternoon thunderstorms that could affect fire direction. Schuster says the fire fighting efforts are still mostly defensive, but they are looking for opportunities that might enable more aggressive approaches.
Helena Lewis and Clark National Forest officials have closed the Forest Service lands including campgrounds and areas for temporary RV residents around the fire to reduce traffic. Residents in the area are cautioned there is heavy fire traffic on the roads around Canyon Ferry Lake, and to avoid travel and stay on their properties. Some local residents in northern Jefferson County have offered pasture and barn space for campers and evacuated livestock.
