Gunbarrel Fire Near Cody

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Gunbarrel Fire Near Cody

By Penny Preston

Story Published: Jul 29, 2008 at 7:28 PM MST

Story Updated: Jul 30, 2008 at 6:16 PM MST

CODY, WYOMING - The Gunbarrel fire, about 40 miles west of Cody, grew to 1,200 acres by Tuesday. But the U.S. Forest Service said the fire is doing more good than harm, by clearing out beetle killed wood, and establishing better habitat for wildlife.

The blaze was sparked by lightning Saturday, and doubled in size every day since. Fire managers said the blaze moved about a mile to the northeast Monday, higher into the North Absaroak Wilderness and away from the populated valley below.

The Forest Service is monitoring the fire with a helicopter, but says they are not fighting the blaze now, for several reasons. Incident Commander Bill Hahnenberg, said, “One reason is we don’t think it’s safe to put firefighters in to deal with it directly. Secondly, we think we can achieve resource benefits for the management of the forest. In this case, eliminating a lot of that heavy fuel that’s built up over the years with conifer mortality.”

Hahnenberg said his team is making a long term plan, and will do all they can to protect people and property in the valley west of Cody, if the fire starts heading in that direction.

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