Update: We can all rest easy. According to Steve Seguin, Public Affairs Specialist with the US Forest Service, there are no new fires or flare ups in the area. The smoke is coming from Montana and from Bone Creek, and the concentration of smoke we are experiencing here in Sheridan is due to an inversion; cool air pushing down and trapping the smoke. A big Thank You to Steve for getting back to me so quickly.

The Little Goose fire is 85-95% contained, and things are going very well for the crews.

From InciWeb:

Began to implement the phased Base Camp transition from the base of the Little Goose Fire to Burgess Junction near the Bone Creek Fire. Continue to make significant progress in securing the fire line on the Little Goose Fire toward a standard which will allow transition back to the local unit.

I lived in the Los Angeles area for 12 years, and if any of you had ever wondered what a third-stage smog alert in LA was like, now you know.

I, like everyone in Sheridan, woke to smoke filled skies, and although this mornings report on InciWeb is still showing Little Goose as 85% contained with no indication of a flare up. I have an email out to to one of my sources, and will update this post as soon as I can find out where all the smoke is coming from.

InciWeb finally has an update posted on these fires on their website. Since it appears they are either having problems or are limited on bandwidth, I am quoting all the information I find regarding these fires here on my blog. Hopefully this will reduce the load on their site, and also minimize the frustration of the public. From InciWeb:

Sheridan, WY – Crews made excellent progress toward containment of the Little Goose Fire today. Eighty five percent of the perimeter has control line around it. The fuels have been completely extinguished within 130 feet of the fire line. The Little Goose has not grown in three days and stands at 4,827 acres. Even though the Little Goose Fire is approaching full containment, it is still the top priority for the Rocky Mountain Incident Management team. The Red Grade Road closure from the snowmobile parking lots to the top of Stumpy Ridge is still in place, and will remain so until suppression is final.

No smoke was observed on the Little Goose Fire from the Incident Command Post next to County Road 77 on the east side of the fire. However, smoke from isolated stumps and trees could be visible for the next few weeks but will not be a threat.

As crews become available they are either being reassigned to the Bone Creek Fire or sent to other fires in the west.

The Bone Creek Fire currently burning in the Hunt Mountain area of the Big Horn National Forest grew to 2,883 acres today. The fire is burning in decadent and insect-infested spruce, fir and Lodgepole pine. The dead trees and difficult terrain are proving to be a challenge for the fire fighters. Because structures are not immediately threatened, fire fighters have been able to use indirect control tactics like retardant applications, helicopter water drops, burn outs and natural barriers in conjunction with hand line.

Currently entry is prohibited into the Cedar Creek, Grouse Creek and Brindle Creek areas. Hunt Mountain Road (Forest Road 10) is closed between the junction of Forest Road 209 and 216. All of Forest Roads 216 and 205 as well as Trail 055 are closed. Residents in the area were given a pre-notification from the United States Forest Service informing them that there may be the possibility of an evacuation if the fire progresses. If necessary, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office would be responsible for the actual evacuation notification.

There are 443 people, five helicopters and four engines assigned to the fires.

Bone Creek is listed at 5% contained.

Well, InciWeb is still very slow and has not posted an update on the Little Goose fire, however Sheridan Media is reporting the Little Goose fire is now 85% contained, and has not grown in size from the 4827 acres reported yesterday and the day before. The lightning last night was not in the area of the fire, which is fortunate, and apparently the winds did not cause any flare ups.

Today here in Sheridan it’s supposed to get to 95 degrees with light wind, so keep your fingers crossed. When InciWeb updates the report on Little Goose, I’ll edit this post and include any additional information I think you would be interested in.

For those of you wondering where the Bone Creek fire is, Hunt Mountain is in the area of Baldy Pass about 12 miles west of Burgess Junction on highway 14A on the south side of the road. A little further west is Bald Mountain and Medicine Mountain (where the medicine wheel is).

The Garland Gulch fire is northwest of Burgess Junction, north of Big Horn and Bear Mountain Lodges.

While looking around on the InciWeb website, I found this picture, which is credited to Dick Bodine. It was taken on Sunday the 12th when it was 102 degrees and windy. We should be counting our blessings on this one friends. Think how bad it could have been if the high temperatures and winds had continued, even for one more day.I hope the wind early this evening didn’t set the firefighting efforts back any, and I hope the lightning didn’t start any more fires. All the sources I’ve been looking to are still showing what they posted this morning.

[Edit: Oops, had the wrong date on this – corrected to the 18th]

[Edit again: It appears as if the InciWeb website is a little overwhelmed with all the people trying to find out about the fires (probably partially due to me posting the link). I will post any new information on this blog and check it several times a day so that you don't have to deal with the slow loading.]