Winds spur activity in Mullen Fire
Winds spur activity in Mullen Fire
By Camille Erickson
Casper Star-Tribune
Via Wyoming News Exchange
CASPER — Crews braced for another active day on the fire line on Monday, as increased winds and lower humidity intensified the spread of the Mullen Fire in southeastern Wyoming.
The wildfire was 14% contained as of Monday afternoon, with nearly 1,100 firefighters and other personnel fighting around the clock to subdue the fire. The blaze has engulfed 151,711 acres, according to new measurements provided by the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team.
Western winds that reached 30 mph prevented aircraft from responding to the fire at times over the weekend, according to Chip Redmond, incident meteorologist for the fire. Conditions only worsened throughout Sunday night as low humidity levels stoked the intensity of the fire.
At a news conference held on Monday afternoon, Gov. Mark Gordon said a more advanced incident management team planned to arrive on Tuesday to replace the current “type one” team.
Gordon said the transition to the “type two” team “really represents the seriousness of this fire.”
“I want to thank the firefighters again,” he added. “I saw that fire first hand, and I saw the amount of work they were doing to protect buildings. ... They face extraordinarily challenging conditions.”
On Monday morning, firefighters moved in to secure lines on the northern and southern reaches of the fire as temperatures warmed.
Gusts shifting into the northwest were forecast to reach 35 mph on Monday, Redmond said during a virtual press conference. A red flag warning was in place from 9 a.m. until 7 p.m.
“There is hope in the future,” Redmond said in a virtual conference on Monday. “Looking into this weekend we have a pattern change coming up. We are going to see this persistent, nasty and warm, above-normal temperatures — that are perfect fire conditions — go away. We will see a cold front come through Saturday, and we’ll see those temperatures drop down. The humidity will come up a little bit and we’ll probably be introducing a chance of seeing scattered showers, maybe snow showers, on Sunday.”
The Mullen Fire, which is one of the largest in Wyoming’s recent history, began on Sept. 17 in the Medicine Bow National Forest. It spread quickly thanks to the landscape’s rugged terrain and abundance of beetle-killed trees.
Authorities initially said the fire was likely human caused, but have not provided additional details.
Albany County Emergency Management Agency and Sheriff’s Office have issued mandatory evacuations and pre-evacuation warnings for multiple communities in recent weeks.
As of Monday, authorities have found 29 homes and 31 outbuildings destroyed in Wyoming. On Monday, heavy smoke hung over Laramie, only 38 miles from the fire. The fire crossed Wyoming’s border last week, spreading into Colorado.