Shepard Mountain Fire 70 Percent Contained

The Shepard Mountain fire was cornered on Tuesday, but not quite corralled, fire bosses said.

“It’s really coming together quickly,” said fire information officer Bill Pidanick. Fire managers continued to project containment of the blaze on Thursday.

With more than 70 percent of the fire contained, 150 people assigned to fight it were scheduled to leave Tuesday, almost a full week after the fire blew up and rushed down a canyon, destroying 32 homes. About 550 firefighters and other personnel were expected to remain on duty.

The fire remained at 12,800 acres. It was burning in the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness and in a nonwilderness area of the Custer National Forest.

All evacuation orders were suspended, Pidanick said.

Although the area around East Rosebud Lake remained closed to the general public, owners of homes in the area have been allowed to return.

“They’re beginning to think about debris clean-up, and where to go from here,” Pidanick said of those whose homes burned.

Firefighters divided their attention between containment and mop-up. Crews carried “Probe-Eyes” into burned areas. The devices held by hand are infrared monitors that detect burning embers invisible to the naked eye.

The fire began with a lightning strike Aug. 25.