Arnica Fire in Yellowstone National Park Blows Up to More than 8,000 Acres

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on September 27, 2009 - 11:58am

Dry, windy weather was pushing the Arnica Fire in Yellowstone National Park on Sunday. NPS photo via Yellowstone National Park's Mount Washburn webcam.

Dry, windy weather pushed the Arnica fire in Yellowstone National Park to more than 8,000 acres Sunday, with spotting starting small fires within 1 mile of Bridge Bay on the west side of Yellowstone Lake.

Sparked by lightning, the blaze is is burning in a dense lodgepole pine forest. While helicopters were dumping buckets of water on the flames, roughly 120 firefighters on the ground were working to protect structures in the developed area at Lake.

Park officials said the fire was expected to burn actively Sunday under southwesterly winds, especially during the peak afternoon burning period when temperatures were expected to reach into the 60s. For safety reasons the road between the Junction at Fishing Bridge and West Thumb might at times be closed temporarily due to the fire’s proximity to the road, they said.

Smoky conditions were expected to affect air quality today and are likely on Monday. Individuals with weakened immune systems and those with heart and lung conditions could be most affected, park officials said.

Smoke and flames could be seen from the Grand Loop Road. Drivers were being advised to use caution and drive slowly as smoke could reduce visibility.

The Elephant Back and Natural Bridge Trails were closed due to fire activity in these areas. Visitors were urged to check at park visitor centers or backcountry offices for the current status of other hiking trails and backcountry campsites in the area.

No facilities were closed Sunday due to fire activity, with the exception of the launching of private water craft from the Bridge Bay Marina. Water craft could still be launched from Grant Village.

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Comments

Submitted by CC (not verified) on September 27, 2009 - 3:59pm.

I'm going to Yellowstone for a few days, and wondering if the predicted rain/snow can put a fire of this size out?

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on September 27, 2009 - 4:19pm.

I wouldn't bet that it'd put the fire out, but it more than likely will knock it down substantially. Back in '88 it was an early season snow storm in September that doused those blazes.

Submitted by johnl (not verified) on September 27, 2009 - 7:01pm.

The road between West Thumb and Bridge Bay was closed around noon today, Sunday, 27 September, 2009, as the fire jumped the road to the lake side of the road. Several trucks and additional resources of men and equipment were observed entering the park via the north entrance as we left the park for Gardiner around 4 PM.

Submitted by lovesYNP (not verified) on September 27, 2009 - 8:34pm.

Just got back from the park today. We made it through to Madison Jct. to get out via Old Faithful to West, however, my parents had gone to West Thumb to watch the fire and in the afternoon, it jumped the road and started burning on the lake side. They had to drive out of the park and get back up to Mammoth through Bozeman. I suggest calling the park and find out about road closures for anyone travelling there in the next few days. It was amazing to see though! Good luck and enjoy your trip! The number to call is: (307) 344-2117

Submitted by Mikey (not verified) on September 27, 2009 - 9:12pm.

Headed there Friday-Sunday. Hoping for the best. Dress warm.

Submitted by Used to work in Yellowstone (not verified) on September 28, 2009 - 7:38am.

I was in Yellowstone in after the fires in 88 & it is sad to see that such a wonderful place is on fire again. Hopefully they get some rain or snow up there to help put out the fire.

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on September 28, 2009 - 8:04am.

Actually, it's quite healthy for the forest to burn when the flames are ignited by lightning. It's simply nature's way of cleaning things up, so to speak, of sparking a new generation of lodgepole pines, of opening up meadows for ungulates and even bears.

Plus, mixed generations of trees make a healthier, more resilient forest, as bark beetles are known to prefer trees with trunks that are larger than 6 inches in diameter. Get a forest of one generation of trees and bark beetles can rip through it more quickly than forests with more diversity, age-wise.

Without these cleansing fires, the forests become too cluttered with downed trees and other forest litter that can lead to unhealthy forests that, when they do burn, can feed truly catastrophic fires due to the large amount of fuel.

I covered the fires of '88, and was amazed at how quickly the forests came back to life with wildflowers, forbs, and other vegetation. Sure, a fire-charred landscape seems devastating, but the aftermath of the fire is rebirth, which truly is impressive to see.

Submitted by jsmacdonald on September 28, 2009 - 8:54am.

The bad luck here is the road construction closing the road between Madison and Norris; this is a nightmare for travelers. The only saving grace was that this happened at the end of September and not the middle of August.

We have had an unseasonably warm September, and so a quiet fire season suddenly erupted late, but weather later this week should help immensely.

As for the fires, they are beautiful things - those old lodgepole pines are old; they look sick. They need fire to rejuvenate. If you see the smaller 21-year-old forests, those trees look MUCH healthier than those strange, scarred old pines. Fire is such a necessary part of the process, and the dead trees do look gorgeous to me mixed as mosaics with the living ones, with undergrowth and vegetation. Look from a mountain at dead forest mixed with living forest, and it's an artist's palette.

So, Kurt is absolutely right on this, both from an ecological but also from an aesthetic standpoint. When a forest catches on fire like this, it likely needed to burn. The only problem is the bad luck of road construction with a well placed fire on the other side of the loop. That wasn't likely to happen, but it did, and I feel for those stuck in it confused about having to drive many hundreds of miles to get to where you are going.

(By the way, I was at Tower Fall this weekend; I noticed the campground there was allowing people with vehicles to fill up the hiker / biker area; I imagine that there are extra spots even in the closed campgrounds, if you get trapped.)

Jim Macdonald
The Magic of Yellowstone
Yellowstone Newspaper
Jim's Eclectic World

Submitted by Heidi (not verified) on September 28, 2009 - 9:35am.

My son works at the Lake Hotel and said he thinks the fire is about 3 miles away.
What is the likelihood they will evacuate? Is it really that close to the Hotel?
I've never been there so I have no concept for where this is at.

Submitted by jsmacdonald on September 28, 2009 - 10:42am.

Well, that is quite close, yes ... all the best information is found out by calling the 24-hour road information line at 307-344-2117, or the fire information line at 307-344-2580. The most updated Web site on this (and all wildland fires) is Inciweb; the page for this fire is http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1901/.

I hope your son will be fine; I wouldn't worry; if evacuation is necessary, I'm sure they'll do it in plenty of time.

Jim Macdonald
The Magic of Yellowstone
Yellowstone Newspaper
Jim's Eclectic World

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on September 28, 2009 - 3:33pm.

We were there at start of this Sept, tenting in Bridge Bay campground. The Lake Hotel and adjacent Lodge are abt 3 miles NE along the lake. I can't see anything happening to the Hotel - it's hard up on the lake, and fairly separated from the forested region on the other (west) side of the loop road - and given the significance and value of the buildings, huge resources would be put into buffering it. Patrons could be asked to leave, if smoke became thick or services were disrupted, but staff will likely be needed, and are presumably well trained.

Fire is a critical part of the cycle. When my wife and I last visited, in 1993, much of the park was still treeless after the 87 fire. Although gray trunks and deadfalls still dominate huge swaths of the park, there is now a heavy growth of small to medium sized pine, pretty well covering most of the slopes that previously burned. However, the new stuff is much more dense than a mature forest, so there will have to be a lot of die-off as these stands mature over the next few decades. New fires will will certainly consume much of that material. The elk have done really well in the opened landscapes since '87. Apparently, the moose have not come back well, after their forage along the rivers got ruined after '87. I think this has something to do with winter overgrazing of willow by the resurgent elk, which the introduction of wolves (mid-late 90's) is hoped to help with.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on December 9, 2009 - 10:04am.

yellowstone park is awesome even when its all burnt up (: