Hotshot versus Grizzly - Grizzly ran away

Hotshot versus Grizzly - Grizzly has not been seen since...

Lewis and Clark Hotshots
Photo: Lewis and Clark Hotshots from Great Falls, Mont
Taken at Butte Complex fires California 7-14-08
Credit: Cal Fire News

A Grizzly bear escaping a wildland fire in Yellowstone had a run in with a member of the Lewis and Clark Hotshots from Great Falls, Mont...but he wasn't seriously hurt....neither was the Firefighter, The Firefighter received treatment for abrasions and scratches on his back after the bear jumped on him...officials believe that the bear wasn't being aggressive and apparently just wanted to get away from the fire or possibly the un-bathed hotshot "u de toilet" aroma.
Firefighter Hotshot Tony Allabastro was treated and released at a medical clinic in the park on Sunday after this unbearable situation.
The Hotshot crew is among those battling the 4,700-acre fire near Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone.

Tony Allabastro, a member of the Lewis and Clark Forest Service hotshot crew based in Great Falls, reportedly saw the bear over his shoulder, coming from where his crew had been doing controlled burns, Sandy Hare, public information officer for the LeHardy fire, said Monday.

Before he had a chance to get his bear spray, the grizzly pounced on him and “roughed him up,” Hare said. The bear was “acting instinctually.”

“(The bear) just wanted out,” Hare said. “There was something in its way, and it happened to be a human.”

Allabastro got away with minimal injuries. He was treated at the Yellowstone Clinic in Lake, Wyo., for scratches and bruises Sunday and released.
[...]
Allabastro, who has fought wildfire for three seasons and served on a hotshot crew for one, was tackled by the grizzly while working on a burnout near Fishing Bridge.

The burnout is intended to put a buffer between the LeHardy fire and Fishing Bridge, an enclave of campgrounds, gas stations and other amenities in the park. As crews resumed that work Monday, people traveling on the park’s Grand Loop Road were again treated to views of giant plumes of smoke from their cars.

Between 500 and 600 grizzly bears are estimated to call Yellowstone home, according to the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. Bear sightings by fire crews is a common occurrence, Hare said.

But “firefighter-grizzly conflicts are pretty rare,” she said. “That’s why they carry bear spray.”

To boot, wildlife experts consider the Fishing Bridge area “the core of bear country” in the park, Hare said.