Fontenelle Fire Revised to 12,000 Acres

The Fontenelle Fire on the southern end of Bridger-Teton National Forest has now surpassed 12,000 acres.  As such, the forest has issued a temporary closure for the La Barge Creek Road and the surrounding area for firefighter and recreationist safety as a result of the Fontenelle Fire. The order is expected to remain in place as long as the fire is being actively fought.  Monday night, the fire had tripled in size from 100 to 300 acres, by mid-afternoon Tuesday, it had again tripled to 900 acres, and by Tuesday evening, it was estimated to involve 2000 acres.  It continued to grow overnight and at 8:00 this morning, forest officials measured it at 12,000 acres. Forest Spokesperson Mary Cernicek says a Type II management team has been ordered bring with it more resources and experience to fight the blaze.  Cernicek says winds up to 40 miles per hour made the drops of water and fire-retardant onto the fire ineffective, and pushed the fire over the county line into Sublette County. The cause of this fire is still under investigation, but with no recent lightning storms in the area and the proximity of the fire start to public use areas, Cernicek says forest officials have not ruled out it may have been human caused.