Yellowstone Insider Your Complete Guide to America's First National Park
The fire is now 20 percent contained, as crews have cut off the fire’s growth to the northwest at Tower Fall. A control line has been set up, and much of today’s work will center on maintaining that control line.
On Monday the fire’s size was estimated to be 1,600 acres, but officials say the rise in size may not be totally an expansion of the fire; crews were able to get out to the perimeter and more accurately determine its size.
The Antelope Fire is located on the east slope of Mount Washburn and northeast of Dunraven Pass in the north central section of Yellowstone National Park. The lightning-ignited fire was discovered September 14.
Monday brought cooler temperatures and higher humidity, but winds remained gusty. Fire crews made progress prepping a line along Antelope Creek for a burnout operation to stop the fire’s northwest spread.
The road between Tower Fall and Chittenden Road remained closed all day Monday and will be closed Tuesday.
The fire is not expected to die down any time soon. Favorable weather conditions will continue today and tonight, and the peak burning times will be this afternoon and tonight.
Structural firefighters and engines will remain at the Tower Fall area as a precautionary measure. Nine engines and ground crews will be working along the road today, along with helicopters dropping buckets of water along the portions of the fire where suppression is the objective. One of the helicopters is a heavy K-MAX K-1200 “aerial truck.” Fire monitors will track fire spread and weather conditions where the fire is being allowed to burn for resource benefits.
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