Wildfire near Cody keeps growing

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CODY (AP) - Sunday marked the third consecutive day of red-flag fire weather warnings on a 22,000-acre wildfire burning 40 miles west of Cody.

"Basically the weather hasn't been cooperating much," said Steve Till, a fire information officer on the Gunbarrel fire.

Fire bosses, though, said they were pleased with efforts by fire crews against the 34-square-mile fire.

About 85 guests and employees were evacuated from two lodges on Friday. The Elephant's Head Lodge was reopened for business Sunday, with the understanding that it might have to be evacuated again at any time. The Absaroka Lodge was reopened to employees only.

Efforts continued Sunday to protect about half a dozen lodges and some private cabins on the backside of the fire along U.S. 14-16-20, which runs between Cody and Yellowstone National Park.

"Thus far we've been fortunate. Our firefighters have been able to protect the cabins and the lodges," Till said Sunday afternoon. He said one structure - an empty dog house - was lost to the flames Saturday.

The highway between Cody and Yellowstone remains open with pilot cars escorting vehicles in the vicinity of the fire.

"Our strong intention is to keep it open if we can," Till said.

Other fires were burning in the Bridger-Teton National Forest north of Pinedale and in Yellowstone.

The New Fork Lakes Fire about 19 miles north of Pinedale continued to burn into the Bridger Wilderness. The fire was estimated to have burned about 9,000 acres or about 14 square miles of old timber and bug-killed lodgepole pine. It was about 9 percent contained.

The fire was started Tuesday by an unattended campfire.

The 4,260-acre LeHardy Fire in Yellowstone was burning in a remote area north of Fishing Bridge and not affecting any tourist areas or roads.

RED LODGE, Mont. (AP) - Weather was the main concern Sunday for the 750 people fighting a wildfire near Red Lodge, Mont.

The 10,000-acre Cascade fire is about six miles west of Red Lodge

Crews will continue fighting the fire on three fronts, with a goal of keeping the almost 16-square-mile blaze from coming any closer to the Red Lodge Mountain Ski Resort or the city of Red Lodge.

Forecasts on Sunday called for possibly severe thunderstorms in the area and winds potentially gusting to more than 50 miles per hour.

Fire information officer Dixie Dies says that if the winds reach that velocity, they hope the storms bring some rain.

Red Lodge Fire Chief Tom Kuntz says all mandatory evacuations and pre-evacuation orders have been lifted for subdivisions west of Red Lodge.

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