August 1, 2024 |
Photo – Smoke from the Jack Creek fire – Courtesy Cecelia Villela-Mikesell
The Jack Creek fire west of Saratoga has not spread since Tuesday, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Around three o’clock Monday afternoon, a fire was spotted near the Jack Creek area of the Medicine Bow National Forest. Carbon County, Bureau of Land Management, and Forest Service firefighters teamed up to battle the blaze.
Bigfoot99 contacted US Forest Service Public Affairs Officer Aaron Voos on Wednesday afternoon for an update. Voos said the Jack Creek fire remained contained to an 18-acre area.
Voos said fire crews were concerned about yesterday’s windy, red flag weather conditions, but the wind hasn’t had much of an effect on the fire. As of Wednesday afternoon, an official cause of the blaze had not been released.
Voos said no news is good news when it comes to wildfires. Despite strong winds and low humidity, the Jack Creek fire has not spread beyond the initial burn area.
Meanwhile, the 206 Fire, burning along Interstate 80 west of Rawlins blew up to 130 acres Thursday evening, after being nearly contained earlier in the day. High winds reignited the flames.
On Tuesday evening, Carbon County Firefighters received a report of a 10-to-15-acre brush fire located near milepost 206 on Interstate 80, west of Rawlins.
County fire crews worked through the night into Wednesday to prevent the flames from spreading. Carbon County Fire Warden John Rutherford told Bigfoot99 that the blaze was nearly out of control until the sun went down on Tuesday and moisture in the air increased. At that point, firefighters were able to begin making progress against the flames.
By early Wednesday afternoon, the 206 Fire had burned 90 acres and was mostly contained. Fire Warden Rutherford said he expected the fire to be completely contained by this morning. Then the weather conditions changed.
Around 4:00pm yesterday afternoon, Carbon County Sheriff Alex Bakken released a statement saying that high winds had caused the 206 Fire to reignite. Both the east and west lanes of Interstate 80 were closed as fire crews worked to extinguish the blaze. Sheriff Bakken said large volumes of smoke caused extremely limited visibility near the fire.
Rutherford said the 206 Fire was caused when the wheel bearings failed on a semi-truck traveling along I-80, causing the wheels to fly off the truck and into the dry grass next to the highway. The dual tires of a semi-truck, including the wheel and hub assembly, were found at the origin of the fire.
Carbon County, Rawlins, Wamsutter, Sinclair, and Bureau of Land Management fire crews are working together to get the blaze under control.
Fire Warden Rutherford thanked all the volunteers who are battling the fire. However, with the current prevalence of fires, Rutherford said fire crews are stretched thin and more volunteers are needed. The county fire warden asked anyone interested in being a firefighter to contact their nearest fire department.
