UPDATE: Mandatory Evacuation Due to Wyoming’s Fishhawk Fire
UPDATE (8:37 p.m. Wednesday):
The U.S. Forest Service has issued a mandatory evacuation notice for cabins in the Kitty Creek drainage and the Buffalo Bill Boy Scout Camp.
Residents need to leave the area immediately due to the Fishhawk Fire, which grew significantly Wednesday, according to the Park County Sheriff's Office.
"Property can be replaced. Human lives cannot," the sheriff's office said.
Evacuees can head to a staging area in the parking lot of the Cody courthouse. Authorities will answer any questions regarding the evacuation.
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Original Story:
A pre-evacuation notice has been issued for a number of cabins as well as a Boy Scout camp in northwest Wyoming as a nearby wildfire continues to grow.
Reported at over 4,500 acres in size Wednesday, the Fishhawk Fire is now being managed by a Type three team with aerial resources on standby in Cody. The fire is burning roughly 42 miles west of Cody and four miles south of US 14/16/20 in the Washakie Wilderness.
The Park County Sheriff's Office has issued a pre-evacuation notice for the cabins in the Kitty Creek drainage as well as the Buffalo Bill Boy Scout Camp which sits on the North Fork of the Shoshone River. It is not a formal, mandatory evacuation notice; rather, authorities want residents and property owners to start preparing for a potential evacuation.
"Owners need to begin removal of any and all property of significant value including livestock from the premises in advance of a full evacuation order," the sheriff's office said on its Facebook page.
Shoshone National Forest managers are preparing to protect properties in the area. The sheriff's office said the fire grew significantly Wednesday and continued expanding toward residences and the Boy Scout camp.
No property damage or injuries had been reported as of Wednesday evening.
The fire is burning in standing dead timber and hazardous terrain, which makes it too dangerous to insert firefighters in the immediate area to battle the blaze directly. Since retardant and bucket drops by aircraft need to be coordinated with ground crews, no direct action has been taken against the fire since it was first reported Monday.
Fire managers continue to assess the situation and additional firefighting resources have been ordered. Some of the firefighters who have arrived in the area most recently helped establish containment lines and protect structures in connection with the Pedro Mountain Fire in central Wyoming.
Kristie Salzmann, public information officer for the Shoshone National Forest, told K2 Radio News that heavy smoke in the area prevented fire managers from accurately mapping the fire Wednesday. An infrared flight is set to map the perimeter by Thursday morning, and Salzmann said an update on the size of the blaze would likely be available following that flight.