The Red Canyon Fire continues to surge in multiple directions about 11 miles east of Thermopolis as it closes in on 100,000 acres burned since it was touched off by a bolt of lightning Wednesday. By Sunday evening, the fire had grown to nearly 92,000 acres and was spreading quickly, said Tammy Boyd, spokeswoman for the Sierra Front Nevada Team 5 firefighting group that arrived Saturday to manage firefighting efforts.
It won’t be long before it crosses the 100,000-acre threshold, she said. โThis is really challenging, and itโs not the only fast-growing fire thatโs burning right now,โ she told Cowboy State Daily. โItโs in difficult terrain and there are numerous high-value resources (threatened) and some tricky weather.โ Those high-value resources include oil fields, a high-voltage power transmission line and numerous homes, ranches and other outbuildings.
Boyd said there are now more than 300 firefighters and other support personnel working the Red Canyon Fire, with many of those on the ground protecting homes and ranches. So far, she knows of only one barn thatโs been lost to the blaze, but that tally could definitely rise as firefighters get more of a handle on managing the fire.
โWe have a lot of firefighters engaged in point protection right now,โ Boyd said. โThereโs some oil and gas infrastructure just south of the fire, but at this time there are no oil and gas losses reported.โ Theyโll have more help for that, she said, because her Type 3 team is already scheduled to be bolstered by a โcomplexโ firefighting group, which is an escalated level of response.
โItโs a bigger team than ours and is better able to handle the fire than ours,โ she said. โThat may be because of the size of the fire or the importance of high-value assets.โ In the meantime, the fire continues its aggressive advance, she said. For instance, during a 12-hour period Saturday, the fire swelled by 15,000 acres, which is โpretty substantial growth.โ
