(Arapahoe, WY) – The estimated 175 acre fire that took place in the Arapahoe/Riverton area yesterday, October 16 was caused by a burn barrel, Riverton Fire Chief Jake Blumenshine confirmed with County 10 Thursday morning.
Any potential charges or the identity of the subject(s) responsible are not public information at this point, but Blumenshine stated charges are “likely.”
Further investigation will be conducted by the BIA.
Reports of the fire began late afternoon on Wednesday in the area of Little Shield Road, and spread quickly due to the high winds occurring at that time.
Chief Blumenshine told County 10 that the Riverton Police Department did a “bang up job” in getting out the initial weather reports letting fire crews know of the incoming winds.
As the fire grew, it eventually hopped the Wind River and threatened housing/structures in the areas of Rein Road, Railroad Ave., Beatrice Road, Riverview Road and the golf course.
Chief Blumenshine also credited crews on scene for structure protection, as only one structure was lost in total during the fire. (An empty lot on Riverside did burn up and approach a person’s property, but Engine 3 “knocked down the whole lot” and kept three houses from catching fire.)
In all, he estimated that there were around 100 personnel in total, including responders from: County Fire, Morton-Kinnear Battalion 5, Batallion 1 from Riverton, Midvale Batallion 8, Missouri Valley Batallion 4, Hudson Batallion 10 (whose main purpose was structure protection, Blumenshine noted), BIA Fire, and four contracted SEAT planes that were stationed in/sent from Worland.
Blumenshine went on to share that no injuries were reported for either civilians or responders, other than an unconfirmed report of smoke inhalation from a resident in the area.
The management of the fire was handed over to BIA Fire around 11:00 PM last night, Blumsnshine added, who went on to monitor the fire throughout the night to make sure hot spots did not spread.
As for the burn barrel cause of the fire, Chief Blumenshine wanted to remind folks to please adhere to and check up on fire bans and controlled burn regulations before burning.
“It’s just preventable,” Blumenshine stated. “The fire ban is still going on. I know a lot of people don’t take that stuff seriously, but it’s not normal for us to have this type of grass fire in October, but it’s been really hot and really dry.”
In addition to those mentioned, Blumenshine also wanted to thank everyone else who provided assistance.
“Huge shout-out to County Fire for the support, BIA (police side and fire side), the Sheriff’s Office for crowd regulation and helping people get off of the scene, and Frontier Ambulance for being on standby.”
Blumenshine also shared that local companies and citizens offered their help as well.
“JACE Water Service, Rocky Mountain Logistics and Rocky Mountain Ag all reached out asking if we needed trucks to haul water,” Blumenshoine shared, and also said multiple residents reached out to him personally offering to bring other supplies like water and coffee.
“It means a lot, it means quite a bit to us.”
You can view some of those efforts in the photo gallery County 10 shared yesterday, and we will provide any further updates as they become available.