Hodel Surveys Yellowstone Fire

Interior Secretary Donald P. Hodel took a helicopter tour of Yellowstone National Park this afternoon to survey fire damage, and he told firefighters that their policy of letting wildfires burn unchecked unless they endanger buildings, roads or other property is sound.

“We aren’t going to waste our resources where fires aren’t doing harm to the park,” he said. “There is a long-term beneficial effect from fire.” Firefighters kept watch on a 6,000-acre blaze burning 6 to 10 miles west of Old Faithful. The blaze posed no immediate threat to the famed geyser.