Kane Fire — High winds explode wildfire in Yellowtail Habitat Area
LOVELL — It was a perfect storm for a massive wildfire over the weekend as high winds caused a fire in the Yellowtail Wildlife Habitat Management Area northeast of Lovell to blow up and spread rapidly Saturday night and in the days to follow as fire crews fought to keep up.
By Monday, the fire had spread to more than 1,900 acres.
What is being called the Kane Fire was reported Saturday at 5:42 p.m., as members of the Lovell Volunteer Fire Department were responding to a fire near the Tillett Springs Fish Hatchery to the north, which had been called in at 5:31.
Fire Chief Zach Blain said a wind with gusts up to 40 miles per hour or more rekindled a fire at the hatchery that had been fought on Wednesday afternoon. The earlier fire was a controlled burn that escaped control and got into willows and a sage/grass mix. Saturday, the callout said the fire was nearing buildings.
As the firemen were heading north on Wyoming Highway 37 toward the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, Blain noticed a plume of smoke to the east in the habitat area, at first wondering if firemen had been given the wrong location of the fire they were responding to.
Blain sent assistant chief Lynn Hitz on to the Tillett Springs fire and turned around to head into the habitat area.
As he did so, the Lovell dispatch center sent out a page for the second fire.
Hitz oversaw the Tillett Springs fire, which was exacerbated by high winds and required firemen to protect buildings and take down cottonwood trees the fire had burned into, Blain said.
As Blain headed east into the habitat area, the fire was initially burning only on the north side of the Shoshone River near the location called the old Gams house, which was taken down years ago. He said the fire started near the north bank of the river and was “likely human caused,” with which acting sheriff Jeff Angell agreed, saying Tuesday that the fire is “human related and currently under investigation by the Park Service and the Big Horn County Sheriff’s Office.” Saturday, as Lovell Volunteer Fire Department assets were responding, winds pushed the fire across the river.
As Blain checked out the north side of the river, other units deployed to the south side and found an active flame front near the Halliburton/BPM Minerals bentonite plant. Blain said the wind was driving the fire southeast, coming up below the plant to the railroad tracks.
“Fortunately, there were some irrigated fields there that were (cut) short from the harvest (last fall), and once the flame front hit that area we were able to slow it down directly north of BPM,” the chief said. “But in the habitat area the fire was inaccessible to any fire engines because of too many dead and downed trees and drain ditches throughout the area.
“Our main objective was to push it around BPM and hold it at the causeway. Unfortunately,
it did jump the highway, but we were able to catch it. We wanted to keep the fire from spreading to the west into any residential areas, so we put in a dozer line west of the plant. Alan Snyder (plant manager) coordinated with GK Construction on that.”
Blain said the Saturday night response included nine trucks from Lovell, three from Powell and one from the Deaver-Frannie fire departments. Fighting the fire were 16 firemen from Lovell, seven or eight from Powell and two from Deaver-Frannie.
And at 6:11 p.m., during the initial phase of the Kane Fire, two firemen also responded to a car crash in Byron, assisted by Powell.
Around 10 p.m. additional resources began arriving on scene in the form of BLM crews from Worland and Cody and Forest Service crews from Cody, Greybull and Sheridan.
“We were able to split up to control different areas of the fire,” Blain said, adding, “The National Park Service was not allowed to respond with their Type 6 engine. Every other agency in the area was able to respond with all of the equipment they could provide.”
Sunday efforts
The wind finally slowed down around 5 a.m. Sunday, Blain said, and as GK finished the dozer work, firemen lit a back burn to the east to further protect the plant. But though the wind was less intense, it shifted 180 degrees and pushed the fire on the other side of the river to the north and further into the habitat area.
“We shifted our efforts to the north side of the river to start trying to contain it, and fortunately there were no structures or property threatened,” Blain said. “We were still coordinating with the BLM and Forest Service to manage it, and in the early afternoon additional resources arrived from the Wyoming Hot Shots (in Greybull) with other engines from the Forest Service and BLM.”
Blain said a federal air attack airplane circled numerous times during the afternoon to provide a view from above to see where the fire was moving so firefighters could fight the fire more effectively. Then later in the afternoon a helicopter made several bucket drops along the west flank of the fire, some 12 to 15 drops, Blain estimated.
Firefighters were also able to perform another back burn off the main road to the Kane Cemetery Sunday afternoon to prevent the fire from spreading further north, Blain said, noting that much of the smoke Sunday was from that back burn.
Early Sunday morning, incident command was officially transferred from the LVFD to the BLM, though Blain continued to coordinate local fire department efforts with the BLM to be most effective, he said. Then Sunday night in command was transferred to another IC Type 3 commander with the BLM, and additional resources began to show up.
The Lovell Volunteer Fire Department, with many exhausted firemen, was released around 7 p.m. Sunday, Blain said.
By Tuesday night, the fire was listed as 1,943 acres and 30 percent contained.
Other blazes
Blain said a county fire ban was in effect from 4 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, to 9 p.m. Sunday, but numerous fires broke out in the ensuing days including a fence line fire on Road 17 called in at 9:21 a.m. Thursday, a weed fire on Road 10 Sunday at 4:31, an out-of-control controlled burn that got into trees on Road 7 near Cowley at 6:38 p.m. Sunday and a burn pit fire on U.S. 14A East at 7:40 p.m. Sunday.
Blain was worried about a red flag warning issued by the National Weather Service for high temperatures and winds Wednesday afternoon.
Wednesday update
The National Park Service provided a fire update Wednesday morning, stating that fire crews made significant progress on the Kane Fire Tuesday, increasing containment to 30 percent. Due to these efforts, firefighters are in a strong position moving forward and will continue working to safely suppress the fire and secure containment lines, a Park Service release stated.
Wednesday, crews planned to continue to patrol, monitor and mop up areas within the fire perimeter while reinforcing containment lines. Tactics will continue to adjust as weather, terrain and fire behavior evolve, with the goal of safely containing and suppressing the fire.
In anticipation of increased winds, firefighters developed a tactical plan to adjust operations during peak wind periods, with particular attention to areas containing
cottonwood trees and other heavy fuels that present elevated risk during strong winds and gusty conditions.
A Red Flag Warning was in effect Wednesday from noon to 9 p.m., bringing critical fire weather conditions, with peak gusts around 45 mph, low relative humidity and above-normal temperatures. Fire crews planned to modify operations as needed during peak conditions to ensure safety.
For Thursday, March 26, conditions were expected to improve with cooler temperatures, higher relative humidity and continued breezy winds. Fire behavior is expected to moderate; however, crews will remain engaged in suppression, patrol and mop-up operations.
All roads within the Yellowtail Wildlife Habitat Management Area remain temporarily closed. The public is asked to respect these closures to ensure firefighter and public safety and to allow crews to operate effectively.
This story was published on March 26, 2026.