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LeHardy fire costs top $1 million

By DANIEL PERSON Chronicle Staff Writer

The price of fighting the LeHardy fire in Yellowstone National Park has surpassed $1 million as acres burned by the fire approached 10,000.


 Rain in the park has slowed the fire’s progress, which is expected to burn in the backcountry for a least another week, and the number of firefighters fighting the blaze was greatly reduced before the weekend.

As of Sunday, the fire had burned 9,332 acres in the park. The blaze, started by a downed electrical line, initially threatened Fishing Bridge, a service hub in the park, prompting aggressive suppression by firefighters. Also, some remote patrol cabins and seismic data monitoring equipment were put at risk.

But no structures have been lost so far, fire information officer Michelle Fidler said, and the personnel on the fire were scaled back from about 100 to 45 between Friday and Saturday.

Still, the total cost of the fire on Sunday sat just below $1.3 million.

Fidler said that while the rain has helped, it won’t quash the fire totally, and a drying trend is expected to cause the fire to pick up on its northern border in the coming days.

“It’s been a season-slowing event and not a season-ending event,” she said.

Because the fire is not threatening park visitors or structures, the fire will be allowed to burn to the north, Fidler said.

The LeHardy fire is the largest fire to scorch the park so far this year.

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