The eastern slope had cleared quite a bit by about 8:00 pm. This is a shot of the still smoldering area south of Red Grade road. It reminds me somewhat of the Scottish Moors although it’s not mist, it’s smoke. The good news is that the next few days are supposed to be calm with temperatures in the high 80’s and low 90’s here in Sheridan, which should equate to even milder temperatures on top of the Big Horns, and make it somewhat easier on the firefighters.
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With all the smoke in the air from the Little Goose Canyon fire, the sunset on Monday evening was spectacular, and seemed as if it was going to last forever. These were snapped with my point-and-shoot digital. I would have loved to have had my large format film camera with me, but then again, where I would actually like to set up in on private property, and I need to get permission before doing so.
I zoomed in as far as I could and then cropped this image to show everyone how close the fire was to homes in the foothills. The firefighters did a remarkable job – as they always do – concentrating on saving personal property in the area.
There are still some hot spots here and there on the eastern slope. These appear to be in very rugged, steep canyons that will be difficult for firefighters to access. I suspect these hot spots will be hit with water drops from the helicopters once the fire in contained.
This shot is at Red Grade road, and you can see that the fire came right up to it on the south. Again as you can see, they did a wonderful job of saving homes and buildings. There may be some damage here and there, but it looks like most were saved.
There still seems to be quite a bit of smoke in the area above and west of Little Goose Canyon and there are quite a few cabins up in that area. Luckily the terrain is milder and there are roads the firefighters can use as well as lakes to supply the helicopters.
It isn’t over by any means, but (knock on wood) it could have been so much worse.
Given what we’ve been seeing the past few days, this morning looks pretty calm, but we will have to see what today brings. The National Weather Service is predicting winds of 15 to 17 mph which is not a lot to you and me, but it could be to those smoldering spots still out there. Perhaps the (all too brief) rain last evening helped out. This picture is from the road just west and south of the town of Big Horn, and about a quarter mile from where they have the road closed. Sorry for the fuzzies on this one, but the auto-focus had a hard time grabbing onto something with the smoke and haze. This shot is to the south of red grade road, and you can just make out a couple structures in the lower right hand corner, like islands in the charred surroundings.
This is looking a little further south from the shot above. For some photos by others that were much closer than I was able to get, go to the Sheridan Media website. There are some amazing shots that will give you an idea of just how hot this fire was burning at times.
To all those brave and wonderful people up there working to protect property and extinguish this fire – and the other fires around the country – thanks seems very inadequate, but thanks to all of you.
As the temperature climbed Monday afternoon, and the wind picked up a little, the fire’s intensified. This picture is of the section around Red Grade Road. It appears as if it’s trying hard to move down into the grasslands of the foothills. At the time I’m writing this, it has just rained a little here in Sheridan, and I hope some of that also fell on the fire and in its path. Of course the rain is a double-edged sword as with it came thunder and lightning which could start more fires.
This shot is the best one I could get of the Little Goose Canyon area since I couldn’t get much closer because of the road closure, but as you can see, it is still burning as well. Ther is an update on the KOTA Territory News website. Three structures have now been destroyed and others damaged, and the fire is considered zero (0) percent contained.
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