Elk Fire Update

Management of the Elk Fire has been turned over to Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team 3 under Incident Commander Casey Cheesbrough. 

According to a release from the Bighorn National Forest, the Sheridan County Sheriff issued additional evacuations overnight of the following areas: Pass Creek Road and Twin Creek Road west of Parkman; Tongue River Canyon west of Dayton, where the pavement turns to dirt.

The town of Parkman and residents north of Parkman, on both the east and west sides of Highway 345, up to the Montana state line are now under a pre-evacuation or “Ready” notice.

The Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office is alerting the public that this evening’s community meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. is being moved to the Tongue River Middle School in Ranchester at 1251 Dayton St., in Ranchester. The reason for this change in location is to increase safety for fire responders and local community members in Dayton by decreasing traffic into town.

Current situation: The fire remained active overnight, moving further to the northeast. Today, firefighting operations will focus on direct and indirect strategies. Firefighters will be improving existing roads and fireline on the northeastern, eastern, and southeastern portions of the fire area. Fire managers will be scouting for areas to safely put in fireline on the southern area of the fire. Air resources will continue to assist firefighters on the ground as weather allows.

Firefighter and public safety remain the top priority. The tactics used to suppress the fire will be determined by the terrain, fire and weather conditions, and medical response time.

Closures and Evacuations: US Highway 14 remains closed from Dayton to Burgess Junction. For additional road closures, please visit the Sheridan County Emergency Management website at Sheridan County (sheridancountywy.gov).

Those needing a place to take livestock or a place to stay in a camper may evacuate to the Sheridan County Fairgrounds.

If you need a place to stay and you are evacuated, please contact Sheridan County Emergency Management. Please contact the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office at 307-672-3455 or Sheridan County Emergency Management at 307-752-2174 for more information. A fire Information Number has been established by Sheridan County. Please call 307-303-7642 with any questions.

A Bighorn National Forest Closure Order is in place for firefighter and public safety. The area closed is the area north of US Highway 14 and east of the border of the Medicine Wheel Ranger District and the Tongue Ranger District.

Weather & Smoke Information: A red flag warning has been issued for today with temperatures expected to be in the low 70s over the fire area with winds shifting from west to northwest in the afternoon and gusting to 25 mph. Relative humidity will be around 20%. It is expected that the Elk Fire will continue to put up a smoke column; please check the AirNow website at https://www.airnow.gov/ to monitor smoke movement.