The Mullen Fire in Medicine Bow National Forest is at 95% contained, but people in the northern Albany County area will still likely see some smoke columns and fire over the weekend.
That’s according to Type IV Incident Management Team spokesman Travis Cott, who spoke with Cowboy State Daily Friday afternoon.
Cott said crews are working in the northernmost portion of the fire to contain the last of the flames.
“The cold weather and snow have helped, but sometimes cold weather isn’t always the blessing people think it is,” he said. “Cold weather can sometimes dry out those fuels in the fire area, meaning that it actually will grow in size.”
Thankfully, this isn’t expected for the diminishing Mullen Fire.
Cott said that while 100% containment is coming in the next few days, this doesn’t mean the fire is completely out. It just means that it will continue burning inside the footprint created by the containment line.
Fewer than 50 people are working to combat the fire, according to fire tracking website InciWeb.
The Type IV Incident team will actually change over on Friday, letting the U.S. Forest Service take over management of the fire.
Cott added that the cause of the wildfire is still under investigation and couldn’t say when the USFS might release information regarding it.
