Fish Fire declared controlled

The U.S. Forest Service officially declared the Fish Fire to be controlled last week, almost exactly a month after it first ignited.

There is no longer an area closure in place for the safety of the public. However, the Forest Service has asked that members of the public use extreme caution in the vicinity of the fire due to the dangerous conditions that still exist, which includes dead standing trees that could fall at any time.

The human-caused fire, located seven miles south of Sundance, was reported on the morning of July 31. It had grown to 3800 acres by Tuesday after high winds caused it to run past the control lines on Monday night.

Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team (RMCIM) assumed command of the fire at the end of the week after it continued to grow. Active suppression efforts including multiple helicopters and air tanker water and retardant drops stopped its growth.

Up to 500 firefighting personnel battled the fire at any one time, eventually securing a line around the fire at 6793 acres. The final report from the Forest Service confirms that the Fish Fire did not increase in size after this time.

Fire season, of course, is still in full swing, with several small fires reported over recent days within the county. These include the Oak Fire on August 18, eight miles southeast of Devils Tower, which reached 0.4 acres and was contained within three hours.

The day before, the Nelson Fire was reported five miles southeast of Devils Tower. It reached 2.1 acres in size and was contained in 4.5 hours. On the same day, the Gardner Fire occurred nine miles southeast of Devils Tower and the Devils Tower Fire at the monument itself, both reaching 0.1 acres and contained the same day.