Maverick Mountain's Main Lodge Survived The Sand Creek Fire

The Sand Creek Fire continues as the state's largest, and most dangerous fire, having consumed more than 27,000 acres in the West Pioneers.

🔥 But contrary to some reports this week, firefighters say the iconic Maverick Mountain Ski Area has NOT been destroyed.

Rumors were picked up by some local and national media outlets after social media reports showed the fire flaring up in the area of Maverick Mountain Monday night.

Maverick Mountain is safe

However, the Northern Rockies 3 Incident Command Team clarified the situation last night.

Operations Section Chief Philip Knaub told residents at a community meeting in Jackson that there had been some damage, but structure protection efforts around the main lodge had saved the primary buildings.

"Yes, the top piece, the ski shack is has been destroyed," Knaub explained, repeating the earlier, accurate information. "The rest of the buildings are in place. As far as the timber stringers, between the runs, some of them are completely tooth picked, I guess you could say."

"There's a lot of green in there, okay? And if we're successful with what the folks are doing in there now over the next few hours, through the night, through the weather. I think you'd be skiing this winter up there."

Knaub repeated Thursday morning that the ski area had seen no further damage, with a hot shot crew building in more line to protect the lodge and other structures at the base of the mountain.

Retardant drop on Sand Cr Fire; USFS photo

Elkhorn Hot Springs Saved

The story is similar for Elkhorn Hot Springs to the south, where firefighters were forced to retreat when spot fires were reported west of the Pioneer Scenic Byway, but kept the pumps and hoses running.

:Everything was running, and we had to withdraw for the safety of the firefighters," Knaub said. "Equipment sat there running till it runs out of gas or runs out of water. Fortunately, it worked."

There wasn't anything lost in Elkhorn Springs yesterday. It's actually got a nice little green island of trees around it. - Operations Section Chief Philip Knaub

Bobcat Lakes Fire burning in difficult terrain

The Bobcat Lakes Fire to the north remained active through yesterday's "red flag" weather, although there hadn't been much growth near Wise River. That fire is closing in on 10-thousand acres, but some of that growth has come from "burnout" operations.

Cooler weather ahead

Fire management officer Mike Butler told residents cooler, and even wet conditions are ahead, followed by another dry spell, but without the heat and low humidity next week.

"As we go into next week, we see a warming drying trend, but it's warming back into the 70s," Butler told residents in Wednesday's briefing. "The next few days will probably be in the 60s on the fire with humidity in the 40s. As we go to the warming drying trend, we're talking about temperatures in the low 70s, humidity is in the 30s."

"We've been seeing temperatures in the 80s and humidity in the 10 to 20% range. And as I said, 20% is our threshold for us. So what we will see is much more moderate conditions coming at us the next several days."

Evacuation orders remain in place through the area, down into the Grasshopper Valley. No structures had been lost as of Thursday morning.

ℹ️ A second briefing was scheduled at the Wise River Community Hall Thursday evening, starting at 6 pm.