“Not out of the woods yet”

Lack of resources challenged management of the 52,010 acre east of Hardin, but cooperating agencies saved the day by pitching in together. Several days of rehabilitation and mop-up remain on the fire even after rain Monday. BIA regional fire management officer Bryce Rogers said Monday rains “are not a season-ending event. We’re not out of the woods yet.” Incident commander trainee Mario Pretty Boy said the south side of the fire toward Busby has many snags (burnt trees) hanging across the fireline and requires mop up more than fifteen feet in from the edge of the line. The Busby base camp will operate several more days as resources need to mop up and to rehabilitate firelines by removing dozer berms and reducing firefighting effects on the land. CDC (Centers for Disease Control), IHS and Northern Cheyenne Tribal Health officers checked on fire operations several days and approved of our COVID-19 protocols. Firefighters are “working together but separately, operating in pods,” said Adam Wolf, Northern Cheyenne fire management officer. “COVID is real; we don’t take it lightly,” added Tracy Spang, acting FMO at Crow Agency. Rogers said, “I want to thank both programs [Northern Cheyenne and Crow Agency fire] and all our cooperators for stepping up. As firefighters, we adapt. I appreciate the agencies coming together.” Wolf called the incident “a Type 2 fire with a cobbled-together Type 3 team. We really appreciate the support from the BIA regional office.” Incident commander trainee Colton Herrera Sr. thanks Big Horn County Rural Fire: “Matt [Redden, Fire Chief] and his crew have done an excellent job the whole time they were out here. They left us in good shape.” When the fire began Wednesday, Crow Agency had only two engines, a squad and a helitack module to respond. The fire burned about half on Crow and half on Northern Cheyenne lands, with some on state and BLM lands. Jurisdictional coordination was a challenge at first, but agencies worked together to fix problems in a unified command. Stakeholder meetings were tough to coordinate due to COVID-19, but a daily conference call with Tribes solved that. Northern Cheyenne Tribal Forestry could eventually plant up to 2 million trees on about 6500 acres of the burned lands, although some mature “seed” trees did not burn. The BIA is preparing reforestation maps. Professionals will also be working to identify and protect cultural resources in the burned areas. Preliminary costs for the 52,000-plus acre Sarpy fire are about $350,000, but should rise by about $100,000 when costs are added in of air tankers the first days. After Monday, dry weather returns with temperatures back above normal in the 80s by the weekend.