Red Canyon Fire Grows To Nearly 85,000 Acres, More Evacuations Ordered

UPDATE 7 a.m.: The Red Canyon Fire's size has increased to an estimated 83,250 acres by the National Interagency Fire Center. This story has been updated to reflect the new estimate.

THERMOPOLIS — A large, out-of-control wildfire “exhibiting extreme fire behavior” continues to grow in multiple directions east of Thermopolis in Hot Springs County, and is threatening to burn into neighboring Washakie and Fremont counties.

The Red Canyon Fire has grown to an estimated 83,250 acres and remains 0% contained, according to Sierra Front/Nevada Team 5, the Bureau of Land Management Type 3 incident management team that has taken over firefighting operations.

Sparked by lightning Wednesday, the fire is aggressively burning through dry, rugged terrain, making “extreme wind-driven runs, uphill runs” in multiple directions, according to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC).

The fire’s growth also prompted a new evacuation order Saturday evening: south of Buffalo Creek Road, east of Jones Creek Road and west of Rock Creek Road from the fire area to the Fremont County Line.

That includes all of Kirby Creek, Lake Creek, Bridger Creek and the Pack Saddle areas.

That’s in addition to a previous evacuation of Kirby Creek Road between Red Hole and Buffalo Creek roads, the Hot Springs County Sheriff’s Office reported.

Don’t Help

The Red Canyon Fire is dangerous and very volatile, the Type 3 team reports.

“The fire is exhibiting extreme fire behavior and has crossed several potential hold points,” according to the team’s last report Saturday night. “The fire is growing in several directions, approaching the Washakie County line on the north side of the fire as well as the Fremont County line on the south side.”

Local landowners also are actively fighting the wildfire as it encroaches on their properties and homes. While understandable, the incident management team urges them to stop.

“Several property owners in the fire area have taken independent actions to protect their property and/or help firefighting efforts,” according to the incident report. “Many of these independent actions continue to impede firefighting operations.”

That’s because the No. 1 priority for firefighters is to protect lives.

“Operations are negatively impacted because firefighting resources’ attention is diverted from firefighting to focus on life-safety of the public,” the report says. “Anyone working independently is asked to coordinate efforts with the incident management team or stop working in the fire management area.”

That Cheatgrass

Also making the response more difficult are sensitive areas at risk and in the path of the fire.

“There are a number of values that are at risk,” Tammy Boyd, the spokesperson for the Type 3 team told Cowboy State Daily. “So we’re aware of, for example, high-voltage transmission lines, oil and gas infrastructure, private properties, priority habitat for greater sage grouse — so as the values at risk increase, the firefighting activities become more difficult because of size, terrain, etc.”

Fueling the fire is cheatgrass about 2.5 feet tall, brush and other grasses, the NIFC reports.

That cheatgrass is “the key reason why the Red Canyon Fire has blown up with extreme fire behavior,” Karl Brauneis told Cowboy State Daily on Saturday.

A retired forester who spent 44 years in wildfire management, Brauneis described cheatgrass as an invasive species in Wyoming that not only increases the chances of a wildfire starting, but spreading more quickly.

When it establishes a hold in an area, it can take over, pushing out native vegetation, he said. 

“Cheatgrass is an ecological dead end. It is an invasive species, and it is an annual that thrives in fire,” he said. “Cheatgrass is a land manager’s worst nightmare. Several of my prescribed burns were designed to kill out the cheatgrass.”

Other Fires

While the Red Canyon Fire continues to expand with no containment, wildfire teams on a pair of other large wildfires in the Bighorn Basin report some progress.

The Sleeper Ranch fire northeast of Meeteetse had modest growth Saturday from about 18,300 acres to nearly 20,700 acres, it also went from 0% to an estimated 30% contained, according to the NIFC.

The Spring Creek Fire about 10 miles southeast of Ten Sleep grew from about 3,000 acres to 3,500 acres Saturday and remains at 0% containment.

“Crews are working day and night shifts with nearly 200 personnel on scene,” according to the Bureau of Land Management.

Firefighters are working to build lines to keep the fire south and west of Rome Hill Road and east of Spring Creek Road.

Like the Red Canyon Fire, Spring Creek was started Wednesday by lightning.

The NIFC reports that the Spring Creek Fire has so far cost about $1 million to fight. The estimated cost to date for the Sleeper Ranch Fire is about $400,000, and the Red Canyon Fire about $750,000.

Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com and Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.