Town Under Fire
A fire helicopter returned toward the Wind River to refill after dumping water on the edge of the fire as it spread toward homes behind the Lava Mountain Lodge on Togwotee Pass Oct. 5 2024. Fire helicopters and planes were both being used in attacking the fire because its remoteness and its potential to destroy structures in its path. This particular helicopter was able to make short trips of abuot a mile from the river to the edge of the fire to help contain its spread.
The Pack Trail Fire raged over an area of 89,930 acres west of the town of Dubois in Bridger-Teton National Forest in late summer of 2024. Make-shift fire camps of firefighters from all over the country were set up in town for the months the fire burned almost doubling the small town’s population of just under 1000.
Little Snake River huddled as they managed to keep a commanding lead over the Rams in Dubois Oct. 5. The football game featuring the hometown Dubois Rams hosting the number one visiting Rattlers was played out despite extremely smoky conditions in the Dubois Valley at about 7000 feet.
Boise National Forest hotshot crew Abe Shull, Chelsea Dunn, Blade Tubach, and John Rowland stood for a group portrait justnhaving washed their hands for dinner after a long shift out working on the Pack Trail Fire in Dubois Oct. 5. The Boise hotshot crew is just one of many elite firefighting crews from the region putting in long days of work, assigned to the growing Pack Trail Fire West of Dubois.
Spruce trees ignited in the forest just a few hundred yards above Lava Creek Ranch Oct. 6. The ranch hosts some of the most vulnerable structures to the spread of the fire as it travels east toward highway 26. Firefighters have all hands on deck providing hoses, collapsible water pool, and sprinklers for deterring the fire from property amongst the burning trees.
Smoke plumes rose into the sky behind Lava Creek Ranch Saturday afternoon along Highway 26 19 miles west of Dubois Oct. 6. Firefighters helped owners by providing fire mitigation sprinklers and water reservoirs to help wet the land around the buildings and the buildings themselves as the fire approached from hundreds of meters on the hills to the south.
Dubois Rams senior Siler Hess reached up to make a catch for the Rams as the smoke over town thickened and his team tried to put points on the board against number one ranked Snake River.
Smoke from the Pack Trail fire descended upon U.S. 26. through in Dubois Saturday afternoon. Saturday was the first day Dubois had experienced the level of smoke showed in this photo. The Fish Creek Fire, which began burning near Togwotee Pass back on August 16th merged with the newer Pack Trail fire along Bull Creek deep in the Bridger-Teton wilderness.
Fire workers lined up at the Big Sky Mobile Catering Truck Saturday as dinner time rolled around at camp. Catering businesses like Big Sky follow fires around the mountain west during the season fulfilling the need to feed hundreds of people at once in small towns like Dubois that might not otherwise be able to do so.
Firefighters tents were setup amongst the yellowing cottonwood trees in Dubois Town Park in Dubois. Fire teams fro across the country cycle in and out every two to three weeks depending on the needs the fire containment demands.