Fire won’t be out until snow falls

Fire won’t be out until snow falls

11 September 2008

published by www.billingsgazette.net

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USA — The Gunbarrel fire west of Cody is 78 percent contained, but U.S. Forest Service officials say full containment will be reached only when snow snuffs the fire out.

The fire has burned more than 67,000 acres, or about 104 square miles, of mostly bug-killed timber between Cody and Yellowstone National Park.

District Ranger Terry Root said reports of small smoke plumes from the fire are still coming in, and Forest Service personnel have responded to those reports.

The fire began from lightning in July and was managed to burn off dead trees.

Root said the $10 million cost of controlling the fire was a relative bargain compared with what it would have cost to fully suppress it.

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