WYOMING - High wind gusts pushed the Gunbarrel fire toward a ranch above the Buffalo Bill Reservoir Tuesday afternoon. Two-hundred fifty firefighters worked to protect structures in the path of the fire for miles betwen Cody and Yellowstone.

Two lodges near Yellowstone were put on evacuation notice. Monday night smoke from the fire was heavy, above Wapiti Valley. It had moved about 22 miles east from where it began in the Shoshone Forest. Gunbarrel Fire Team public information officer Sarah Gallup said, "Monday night it was just on the west side of Trout Creek, and Tuesday it has spotted over on the East side of Trout Creek in these strong winds."

By Tuesday afternoon, the blaze was pushing toward the Mooncrest Rance, across from the Buffalo Bill Reservoir. Firefighters worked to protect structures ahead of the blaze. Gallup said, "There's only one logical effective strategy for this fire, and that is to protect the homes and lodges, other places the fire can reach when it reaches there. Also, sometimes the fuel gets into grass or other light fuels we can stop it's spread. It's not safe, it's not likely to work if we tried to stop the spread in the timber."

The threat wasn't just on the east side of the 55,000 acre blaze. By mid afternoon, fire managers issued pre-evacuation warnings to Elephant Head and Goff Lodges near where the fire started. Meanwhile water dropping helicopters worked on Big Creek, where the blaze had pushed to one quarter of a mile of a ranch. And lighter choppers had to wait for less wind to make bucket drops.

For the first time since the fire started in late July, a type one management team has taken over. The owner of Elephant Head Lodge says her guests have all left. The cost of managing the fire to date is estimated at nearly $7 million dollars.