Wyoming is burning up!!

The last 2 weeks have been horrible for Wyoming. Five major fires have started and moved very fast covering large amounts of area. The Fontenelle fire is about 56,000 acres. The Arapahoe fire is almost 90,000 acres. Oil creek in my neck of the woods hit 58,500 last night. Squirell is around 20.000 I believe, and another started in the bridger-teton and is growing rapidly. We cant get enough fire fighters in the area since it seems the entire west is burning up. Just want to thank all the firefighters out there saving our homes and mountains!! Without you we wouldnt have anything left!!

Yeah, and to think we still have much of the summer to get thru. I just read that monsoon season may start early but also read conflicting reports that conditions are not looking too good.

Well, we are getting rain by the arapahoe fire now so hopefully it rains enough to have an impact, it's threatening one of the oldest ranches in the area and a big chunk I national forest and walk in areas


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Looks like all the major fires in Wyoming got a good amount of rain so hopefully they will all be contained soon, also the 250000 acre ash creek fire just north of Wyoming in Montana got a good amount of rain.

Good to hear. Let the green-up begin!

We are burning up and it is so sad! The ash creek fire in Montana is by my parents ranch and is just outrageous! The oil creek fire is by my other house. I feel like everything is burning around me! Hopefully all the storms tonight just produce a lot of rain and help put the fires out! There's is supposed to be a lot of lightning also which could be very bad. I have a feeling it's going to be a very long miserable rest of the summer!

Hopefully mother nature will intervene with some serious rain and put them out. We have had some small fires around here but nothing too big yet.

Just remember there is a beneficial side to all of the fires. If we wearn't here they would burn until they were done...on their own. The land (forest, sage, etc) would regenerate on its own and be more healthy for it. The big fire near Colorado Springs was a disaster, but that area had not burned in a 100 years. Too much undergrowth and fuel for the fire made it much worse that it should (or would) have been. Some of the best hunting I have had is in burned areas that were regenerating...lots of food for all the animals...especially big game animals!

how long does it take animals to return after a burn?

Not sure, but I think a lot depends on time of year of the burn and moisture afterwards. I 've hunted burns a couple of years later and there were still plenty of animals. They like the new growth and seem to concentrate in the remaining cover.