The Clearwater Fire west of Wapiti grew enough Monday night that authorities at one point closed U.S. Highway 14/16/20W at the Shoshone National Forest boundary.

The road was reopened all the way to the East Gate of Yellowstone National Park just before midnight. The Park County Sheriff’s Office, in announcing the reopening, advised caution for people in the area as emergency vehicles are moving up and down the highway continuing fire suppression activities.

Tuesday morning the fire was updated to 1,000 acres by the Wyoming incident command team leading the fighting of the fire, a massive increase in size from Monday morning, when its size was estimated at 138 acres.

By Monday night the sheriff’s office announced closures of the Wapiti and Elk Fork campgrounds, saying the fire had spread down the Elk Fork drainage to the highway corridor. The campgrounds and the Pagoda Summer Homes were evacuated. Later that night, just before 10 p.m., the Wyoming Highway Patrol shut down the highway at the forest boundary, while park rangers shut down the East gate to Yellowstone. Personnel from Park County Fire District 2, BLM, Buffalo Bill state park rangers, Yellowstone National Park rangers and the Park County Sheriff's Office assisted in maintaining the closures.

Tuesday morning Wapiti resident Richard Jones, who lives near the forest boundary, posted video on social media of burned areas around the Elk Fork Campground, but said no structures were damaged.

The Clearwater Fire started on July 19 in the early afternoon due to lightning, Shoshone National Forest spokesman Evan Guzik had previously reported. The epicenter of the fire is located on a ridge line between the Elk Fork and June Creek drainages, approximately 1 mile south of Clearwater Campground.

Over the weekend personal focused on reducing fuels near lodges and summer homes in the Shoshone National Forest. On Sunday, crews were finishing installing structure protection sprinkler systems in the Pagoda Creek summer home group and beginning fuels reduction around the structures at the Bill Cody Ranch. Reduction of fuels and installation of sprinkler systems has been completed at the UXU Ranch. 

These areas are no stranger to fires. In the summer of 2020 the Lost Creek Fire resulted in the evacuation of the Bill Cody Ranch.

— By Zac Taylor