The orange and red haze of a massive fire burning over a hilltop at night
The Elk Fire at night, taken in Dayton on Oct. 2, 2024. (Chris Lawler/Montana-Dakota Utilities)

The consequences of wildfires can extend far beyond the area they burn. Downed power lines can bring regional power outages. 

Utilities often work to prevent wildfires from being sparked by their own power lines, but they also try to get ahead of ongoing blazes by trimming brush around power poles and sometimes lining them in protective wrappers. 

Poles wrapped in what appears to be tin foil
Wrapped power poles and cleared brush along Red Grade (Montana-Dakota Utilities)

Montana-Dakota Utilities have wrapped and trimmed brush around more than 60 poles in the Red Grade Road area southwest of Sheridan. The high winds and nearby Elk Fire can make the situation challenging, the company’s communications manager Byron Pfordte said. On Thursday afternoon, the utility was actively working with firefighting personnel, he said. 

Crews resolved an outage around the Horseshoe Estates within a few hours, Pfrodte said.

Pfordte added that utility crews are not allowed to repair powerline damages within places that have active evacuation measures. 

“The safety of our crew and our customers is our number one priority,” he said. “If it’s a go evacuation, then obviously the conditions aren’t safe, and we certainly don’t want to send our crew into harm’s way.”

As of Thursday afternoon, there were also active evacuations for the 66,000-acre Pack Trail fire west of Dubois. 

If you see a downed power line or utility pole, keep your distance and call the local utility or emergency personnel. If a line falls on your car, stay in the car. Don’t touch anything in contact with the line. Montana-Dakota Utilities have posted more tips for downed power lines here.

Madelyn Beck reports from Laramie on health and public safety. Before working with WyoFile, she was a public radio journalist reporting for NPR stations across the Mountain West, covering regional issues...

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  1. I am praying that everyone is safe as well as animals and wildlife and the towns are protected and praying for the fire fighters crews that go about safely fighting this fire and get it fully contained

    Reply