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An air tanker drops its load of fire retardant on the ridge above Cache Creek on Wednesday as firefighters continue efforts to contain the Horsethief Canyon Fire southeast of Jackson. PRICE CHAMBERS / NEWS&GUIDE

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NEWS BULLETIN, 4:00 p.m.: Increased smoke from strategic burns

The ominous-looking smoke column towering over Jackson is not from a spot fire or uncontrolled movement on the Horse Canyon Fire’s perimeter, but from a “strategic burnout,” fire officials said.

The obvious plume that alarmed many people is “interior portions of the fire burning as well” as the outer fire line, said incident command team spokeswoman Jesse Bender.

The burnout is about 100 acres and located near the high reaches of Leeks and Wilson canyons about three-quarters of a mile south of Snow King Mountain’s summit, said operations chief Jeff Hill. The controlled burn is designed to clear fuels under supervision before they ignite on their own.

The purpose of the burnout is to “eliminate the fuels between the control line and the fire line,” Hill said. “If it’s got a big pocket of timber, we don’t feel confident enough to call it contained.

“Everything’s going pretty well today,” Hill said at about 2:45 p.m.

Fire behavior picked up slightly from Tuesday, Hill said, but new growth was centered on the blaze’s southern, more remote reaches. Because that portion of Horsethief Canyon doesn’t immediately threaten any structures, it’s currently unstaffed, he said.

Fire managers at 8:50 a.m. today [Wednesday] lifted the Horsethief Canyon Fire evacuation advisory for some parts of east Jackson.

The advisory area now includes homes that are south of East Broadway, east of Rancher Street, south of Cache Creek Drive, west of Redmond Street south of East Kelly Avenue and east of Vine Street.

A map of the updated advisory area can be found here.

Residents whose homes still fall within the advisory area should remain on alert for new updates from fire managers and continue to take precautionary steps, which can be found at Tetonwyo.org/em.

No evacuations have been ordered. Emergency officials sent out a message at 11:25 a.m. today emphasizing that the advisory for parts of the southeast corner of Jackson remains in effect.

Updated fire information can be found here. Emergency officials also send out emails and text messages with news about the fire through Nixle. Sign up for that service through this link: Nixle.com.

Emergency officials said they hope to allow residents time to quickly return home and retrieve pets and other personal items should an evacuation be ordered. This is not a guarantee, however, as fire conditions could force a quicker evacuation, they said.

Important evacuation preparations include packing a kit with emergency supplies, important paperwork, photographs, laptops or other items. Residents should have plans in place to transfer any pets or livestock out of the evacuation area. Families should have a communication plan in place.

Other steps include videotaping the contents of one’s home, which could provide documentation for an insurance claim. Homeowners should check with their insurance company to see if their policy covers lodging if an evacuation is ordered, emergency officials said.

UPDATED EVACUATION ADVISORY AREA