(Riverton, WY)—As of Saturday, August 3, the cause of the fire near the U.S. 26 and Eight Mile intersection west of Riverton Friday afternoon remains unknown.
The fire is under investigation by the Wyoming State Fire Marshal’s office, shared Ron Wempen, Fremont County Fire Protection District Chief.
Firefighters were on the scene from around 3 p.m. to about 10 p.m. yesterday. Riverton Volunteer Fire Department was paged back to the scene at about 3 a.m. to take care of some hot spots, and the Fremont County Fire Protection District (FCFPD) continued to monitor the scene today as well.
No firefighters were injured in the fire. However, two area residents were treated by EMS for smoke inhalation.
The fire consumed a residence, a garage, and a handful of outbuildings, along with several vehicles, Wempen continued.
“100 degree temperatures and the low humidity and this wind just really created a really hazardous situation.”
Some power poles were also damaged in the fire, and High Plains Power had restored power to area residents before midnight.
“They were very diligent in being there for us, even during the fire, to mitigate that stuff for us,” he said of High Plains.
There were 19 different units from the FCFPD, including Battalion 1 – Central, Battalion 4 – Missouri Valley, Battalion 11 – North Portal, Battalion 8 – Midvale, Battalion 7 – Pavillion, and Battalion 5 – Morton Kinnear. An additional five units and a command unit from the Riverton Volunteer Fire Department also provided support.
The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office assisted, along with Frontier EMS and Wyoming Highway Patrol.
Wempen also extended two very big thank yous to Lou’s Drilling for hauling water.
“Those guys used a couple of their trucks to haul water for us. That was excellent, and we’re very appreciative of that.”
The second thank you goes to the Odd Fellows Club out of Riverton.
“They brought water and some sandwiches out to the firemen yesterday evening. Very, very, very grateful to those folks.”
Wempen wanted to remind folks that we do need to be really careful with our activities and things we’re doing right now because of the extreme fire risk that we’re having.
“I want to remind people, if nothing else, to follow Firewise-type practices around their homes and whatnot. A lot of times, people think about Firewise involving homes that are in the forest or mountainous areas. But yesterday just goes to prove to us that we have a really extreme risk with grass around our structures down here on the valley floor. So just that little bit of effort to mow those grasses and trim that stuff back away from your structures and your homes and whatnot is really wise time invested.”
To learn more about Firewise, call (307) 857-3030.