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Squirrel Creek Fire Continues To Grow

Irina Zhorov
/
Wyoming Public Media

Evacuations around the Squirrel Creek Fire near Laramie continued to expand north from Sheep Mountain to Lake Hattie on Tuesday. One house has been destroyed, but there are no numbers yet on how many more are threatened. 

Incident Commander Rocky Opliger says the fire’s proximity to residences as well as its erratic nature are keeping it the third priority fire in the nation.

“We’re still looking at that 5-6% containment. You know, while we gained a little ground, we lost ground on the acreage on the growth side, we’ve also got activity to the west. That’s more of a backing fire but that’s very difficult terrain for the firefighters,” said Opliger.

Requested support for this fire is trickling in.  Fire retardants are being dropped, additional planes were added Tuesday for water drops, and the size of the crew is expected to grow to 1,000 people. An infrared flight will help to better evaluate the damage.

 

Irina Zhorov is a reporter for Wyoming Public Radio. She earned her BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from the University of Wyoming. In between, she worked as a photographer and writer for Philadelphia-area and national publications. Her professional interests revolve around environmental and energy reporting and she's reported on mining issues from Wyoming, Mexico, and Bolivia. She's been supported by the Dick and Lynn Cheney Grant for International Study, the Eleanor K. Kambouris Grant, and the Social Justice Research Center Research Grant for her work on Bolivian mining and Uzbek alpinism. Her work has appeared on Voice of America, National Native News, and in Indian Country Today, among other publications.
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