Lost Lake Fire in Shoshone National Forest grows to 30 acres

— August 19, 2013

(Press Release)

The Lost Lake Fire in the Beartooth Mountains of the Shoshone National Forest discovered Friday afternoon was ignited by a lightning strike.  The fire is 3.5 miles north of the Beartooth Highway. The fire is now estimated to be 30 acres in size.

The Lost Lake Fire was reported on the afternoon of August 16 burning in heavy timber on the Clarks Fork Ranger District approximately one mile from the Montana border. The fire is 2 to 3 acres in size and is burning on a rugged southwest facing slope in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. “The cause is unknown but it may be a holdover from a lightning strike a week or more ago”, according to Tim Klukas, Fire Management Officer for the north zone of the Shoshone National Forest. The Beartooth Mountains where the fire is located received moisture recently but there has been a warming drying trend the last few days.

The Lost Lake Trail is currently closed and an additional trail closure, Trail #612 between Granite Lake and Copeland Lake has been implemented. Warm and dry conditions are predicted for today creating conditions for continued fire growth. Helicopter water drops are being utilized and the fire progress is being monitored. Strategies are being developed to confine and contain the fire with consideration of the rugged terrain, remote location and our priorities of public and firefighter safety.

Leave a comment

Want to join the discussion? Fantastic, here are the ground rules: * Provide your full name — no pseudonyms. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish and expects commenters to do the same. * No personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats. Keep it clean, civil and on topic. *WyoFile does not fact check every comment but, when noticed, submissions containing clear misinformation, demonstrably false statements of fact or links to sites trafficking in such will not be posted. *Individual commenters are limited to three comments per story, including replies.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *