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Wildfire 90 percent contained

By SCOTT McMILLION, Chronicle Staff Writer

The Bakers Hole Fire north of West Yellowstone is 90 percent contained, fire information officer Marianne Baumberger said Tuesday.


 However, the blaze is much bigger than previously estimated.

She said better mapping techniques show about 600 acres had burned by Tuesday. Previous estimates put the size at 200 to 250 acres.

The fire erupted Saturday afternoon, spreading from a campfire just east of Highway 191 and about six miles north of West Yellowstone.

The incident remains under investigation, Baumberger said, and law enforcement personnel are looking for whoever let the fire get away from them.

High winds Tuesday morning weren't enough to send the flames over firelines.

"They held the lines today when those winds came through," Baumberger said. "Things are looking good."

Only a few drops of rain fell on the fire.

"A couple sprinkles,"Baumberger said, "That was it."

A total of 113 people are working on the fire, as well as one air tanker, a helicopter and five engines and a water tender.

One helicopter was taken off the job Tuesday.

Baumberger said the firefighting has cost $125,000 so far and crews will be there for a few more days.

Officials warned that people need to be careful with flames in the increasingly dry forests, where some fuels are almost as dry as they were in 1988 when nearly 1 million acres burned in and near Yellowstone National Park.

People who cause wildfires can be billed for firefighting costs.

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