Yellowstone reports its first wildfire of the year, fire risk remains low

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK — Yellowstone National Park (YNP) announced Monday that the park experienced its first confirmed wildfire of the season on Sunday, June 9.

The fire was spotted by a driver on US191 along the west side of the park, according to YNP. The 0.1-acre fire was started by a lightning strike, which ignited a tree about a mile west of the highway, 17 miles north of West Yellowstone, Montana. It is referred to as the Mile Post 17 Fire on the Yellowstone Fire Operations website. Yellowstone firefighters extinguished the fire as early as 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 10.

The YNP park-wide fire risk remains low, according to the announcement. No fire restrictions are currently in place beyond standard park fire rules, which state that campfires are only permitted within established fire rings within campgrounds and campsites, and that campfires should always be attended to and cool to the touch before being abandoned.