The Red Canyon Fire, a naturally ignited wildfire first noticed Wednesday, has exploded in just a day to cover 20,000 acres. As the fire has grown, evacuations have forced residents out of the area and Bureau of Land Management law enforcement have assumed authority of connecting roads.
The fire’s perimeter can be viewed on AirNow.gov, a government website designed to track smoke, air quality and fires across the United States. The Environmental Protection Agency, which manages AirNow, is classifying the fire’s nature as extreme. The site estimated the fire to be 3,000 acres in size around 10 a.m. Thursday. That means it’s grown over six times as large in the last 11 hours.
Weather tonight will not assist in control efforts, either. According to the National Weather Service in Riverton, conditions in the area will further contribute to fire growth and new fires.
“Critical fire weather conditions occur across most of western and southern Wyoming due to low relative humidity, above-normal temperatures, and gusty west wind,” the NWS in Riverton said. “Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms will be capable of producing gusty outflow wind of 35 to 45 mph.” An evacuation order has also been placed on the nearby Red Hole, Kirby Creek and Buffalo Creek areas. Residents living within those districts should have already left the area at this point.
