Fire danger in Yellowstone National Park is now listed at very high, the second-highest danger rating and Stage 1 Fire Restrictions are now in place.
It’s hot and dry in Yellowstone. That’s the message park fire management officer John Cataldo gave during a Facebook Live event Thursday morning.
"Fires are going to start easily if we are careless or if we get lightning," Cataldo says. "And we expect them to spread pretty readily under most conditions we are going to have here during the day."
Cataldo says federal policy requires all human-caused fire to be suppressed. So far this year there has only been one lightning-caused fire. It was quickly extinguished early in the season because of locations.
"So we’re kind of in a posture currently of suppressing new fire starts if we get any because it is going to be a long marathon of a summer," Cataldo says.
Yellowstone is under Stage 1 fire restrictions, prohibiting any backcountry wood campfires or smoking in the backcountry or on all trails. Campfires are permitted in designated fire rings in the 11 developed campgrounds in the park.
Cataldo says fireworks are banned in the park and on all federal land, including national forests and Bureau of Land Management land.
Park officials remind visitors that negligently starting a wildland fire may result in fines and or imprisonment.
