Badger Creek Fire continues to grow
Whipped by strong westerly winds, the Badger Creek Fire burned 
through a six-mile stretch of beetle-killed pine and dried out vegetation Monday. Its massive column of smoke was visible from space by weather satellite. When the smoke cleared last night, officials estimated that the fire had grown to 23-hundred hundred acres. A crew of 70 firefighters with help from six fixed-wing aircraft tried to slow the advance of the fire through the morning. By early afternoon, flames leaped the state highway on their big run to the east. Aaron Voos with the Forest Service said that forced more evacuations and the closure of Wyoming 230.
WYDOT closed Wyoming 230 from the Wyoming-Colorado State line to Woods Landing. Voos said the amount of smoke billowing from the fire hampered efforts to estimate the size of the fire and to assess any structural damage that may have occurred when the fire made its rapid advance. Voos said the local command team in charge of fighting the fire has ordered in more aircraft to assist air crews already assigned to the blaze.
Wold Tract, which consists of about 50 cabin sites on private land surrounded by public forest, was evacuated Sunday evening along with the communities of Mountain Home and WYOCOLO. More evacuations were ordered Monday for Foxpark, Gramm, Beehive, Miller Lake, and the areas along Highway 10 from Woods Landing south to the Colorado state line. This includes Woods Landing, New Jelm, and Jelm. The fire appears to have started a few miles west of WYOCOLO lodge Sunday afternoon near Forest Service Roads 501 and 544D in the area of the Mountain Home OVV Trail System. How it started is still unknown is under investigation. A tip line has been established by the Laramie Ranger District Office. The number is 745-2392. Voos said a Type II Incident Team will begin arriving today on the Medicine Bow National Forest and should take command by Wednesday.
Free Dump Days draws a crowd
Rawlins residents came out in droves to take advantage of the annual Free Dump Days hosted by the City of Rawlins – Public Works Department. The week long event wrapped up Sunday afternoon.
School safety top priority at Education Committee meeting
School security tops the list of subjects being discussed by the Legilature’s Joint Education Committee during its interim meetings this summer. The committee met last week to discuss options that could be implemented in Wyoming schools to keep students safe.
Sports
Little Snake River football coach, Jack Cobb, was part of the staff leading the South roster in the 2018 Shrine Bowl.
