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You still here 7 3 24

Cowboy State Daily is Wyoming’s largest newspaper with Wyoming’s most experienced journalists. 

<title>You Still Here? Wednesday, July 3, 2024 | Cowboy State Daily</title>

You Still Here? Wednesday, July 3, 2024

 Some say it's important to check if traffic is coming before opening your doors. We remain unconvinced, however.....

Employee kate meadows cropped

Kate Meadows

Outdoors

Big Horn County Search & Rescue has become one of Wyoming's busiest volunteer emergency organizations at the same time its funding has been cut nearly in half.

Last year, the team responded to 55 rescue calls – almost four times its historical average of about 15 – making it second only to Teton County in call volume. This year, volunteers have already answered 40 calls and are on pace to surpass last year's record.

Yet the organization's county funding dropped from about $106,000 to $50,000 after property-tax reductions squeezed county budgets.

"We lost a lot of money," Big Horn County Search & Rescue Coordinator Jeff Schmidt told Cowboy State Daily from Colorado, where he was helping fight a wildfire.

Additional property-tax reductions being debated by Wyoming lawmakers could tighten those finances even further, he said.

"As call volume goes up, we just have to have more people doing these things," Schmidt said.

Big Horn County Sheriff Jason Beal said county leaders are doing what they can despite increasingly difficult financial realities.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"We're navigating a very tight, very critical budget,\" Beal said."}]

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Small County With Big Demands"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The challenge facing Big Horn County is unique."}]

Although only about 12,000 people live in the county – which ranks among Wyoming's lowest for median family income – nearly 1 million visitors travel to or through it each year.

Search and rescue volunteers cover more than 3,100 square miles that range from desert badlands to towering alpine peaks, caves and swift mountain rivers.

Three major highways – U.S. Highways 14, 14A and 16 – cross the Big Horn Mountains, carrying thousands of tourists to and from Yellowstone National Park each summer, Beal said.

That variety means volunteers never know what type of rescue they'll face.

One call might involve recovering an injured horseback rider deep in the wilderness. Another could require rescuing stranded climbers from vertical cliffs, navigating caves or performing swift-water rescues during spring runoff.

"We run high-risk missions all the time," Schmidt said. "We have to have tons of training."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Training Comes At A Price"}]

Big Horn County certifies volunteers in high-angle rope rescue, swift-water rescue, cave rescue and other specialized disciplines.

The foundational wilderness rescue course alone requires about 80 hours of training on volunteers' own time and costs roughly $2,000 per person.

Ideally, Schmidt said, the organization would spend $30,000 to $40,000 annually on training alone.

Instead, it has to fund its training from the $50,000 yearly operating budget.

The county also contains more than 200 known caves, adding another layer of technical expertise many search-and-rescue teams elsewhere never need.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Tourism Changes The Mountains"}]

Schmidt said he has watched the backcountry transform over the past several years.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, he said it was unusual to encounter more than a couple dozen people above 11,000 feet in the Big Horn Mountains.

[{"type":"text","text":"Now, he routinely sees hundreds."}]

He attributes much of that increase to outdoor recreation becoming more popular during the pandemic, combined with social media showcasing spectacular mountain scenery.

"People post all these beautiful pictures on social media," he said. "But they don't say, 'Be careful. The mountain really doesn't care what happens to you.'"

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"A Search Unlike Any Other"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The team's growing workload reached its peak almost exactly one year ago."}]

In August 2025, Big Horn County Search & Rescue launched what Schmidt believes might have been the largest operation in the organization's history after 

38-year-old Minnesota hiker Grant Gardner disappeared

The call came in Aug. 1 — already the team's 31st rescue of the year — but Gardner likely had disappeared several days earlier.

[{"type":"text","text":"At first, rescuers knew only that he had climbed Cloud Peak."}]

Finding him meant searching miles of rugged alpine terrain, including enormous boulder fields riddled with countless crevices where a person could disappear.

"There are literally hundreds of thousands of holes you could drop into," Schmidt said.

[{"type":"text","text":"The mountain's steep terrain complicated every aspect of the operation."}]

Much of Cloud Peak is bordered by sheer cliffs, making it impossible for search teams to simply hike the 11 to 15 miles in and out.

Helicopters frequently inserted exhausted crews onto the mountain and later flew them back after long days covering terrain.

[{"type":"text","text":"Grant’s remains were found Aug. 27."}]

The 29-day search involved more than 220 helicopter flights, five aviation companies, specialized dog teams and assistance from Teton County Search & Rescue.

[{"type":"text","text":"Volunteers logged more than 1,300 hours."}]

Even with a volunteer team, the mission cost Big Horn County about $60,000 – more than the organization's entire current annual budget.

Officials estimated replacing the donated volunteer labor and partner agency assistance with paid resources would have cost roughly $1.7 million.

"There was just a huge amount of resources used on that mission," Schmidt said.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Searching For Help"}]

Despite the financial strain, Schmidt said volunteer morale remains strong.

"We've been very fortunate to have a group of young, strong people fit for backcountry hiking," he said. "Some run their own businesses and sacrifice the time."

Volunteer Morgan Dufort has increasingly shifted into fundraising as equipment needs continue to grow.

The organization needs additional rescue gear, technical equipment, training money and vehicles, Dufort said.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Our south location has one working truck,\" Dufort said."}]

That truck carries nearly all of the specialized equipment needed for rope, cave and swift-water rescues.

"If four volunteers respond and rescue two people, they can't fit everyone and all the gear in the truck," Schmidt said. "It would be much better if we were able to split that gear to more than one vehicle."

Those needs helped earn Big Horn County Search & Rescue a spot as one of five finalists nationwide in the 

The winning organization will receive a customized Land Rover Defender 130 SUV along with a $30,000 cash award.

The vehicle seats eight people, can tow up to 9,000 pounds and would allow rescuers to carry both additional personnel and specialized equipment deeper into the backcountry.

"It'll just go more places," Schmidt said. "Everywhere we go with our side-by-side, we could just take the Defender."

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Competing For New Vehicle"}]

Public voting for the award continues through Aug. 14. Big Horn County Search and Rescue is contending with Custer County Search & Rescue in Custer, South Dakota, along with search-and-rescue organizations in Tampa, Florida, McLouth, Kansas and Rancho Cucamonga, California.

At the Old Shell Store in Shell, Emily Clark taped a flyer announcing the competition on the counter next to the cash register.

“I’m telling everyone they’ll get a free cookie if they vote,” Clark told Dufort.

Dufort said she hopes the competition also brings to light that one of Wyoming's busiest search-and-rescue organizations is operating with fewer resources than ever.

"Ninety-nine percent of the time, the people we talk to in our communities don't know that the organization is under-funded," she said. "If they don't know, they can't help us."

[{"type":"text","text":"Still, she said, the volunteers never hesitate when the pager goes off."}]

"The calls don't stop because the budget gets smaller," she said. "We still have a job to do."

Big Horn County SAR training 4 8 3 26

<title>Big Horn County Search & Rescue Calls Nearly Quadruple While Funding Slashed | Cowboy State Daily</title>

Big Horn County Search & Rescue is second only to Teton County in calls due to booming tourism and uniquely rugged and remote terrain leading to the high-risk missions. But as demand for rescues have quadrupled, the agency's budget has been cut in half.

Big Horn County Search & Rescue Calls Nearly Quadruple While Funding Slashed

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's Feature Reporter, Andrew Rossi.

Andrew Rossi

Public Safety

Wildfires are burning homes and habitat across the western U.S., filling the skies with smoke, but even these fearsome flames can have incredible moments of beauty.

 witnessed along the banks of the Snake River in eastern Idaho on Sunday. As the fire raged near Heise, the conflicting wind currents came together into a twirling spire of destruction.

“It came and went for a couple of minutes, at least,” Duke told Cowboy State Daily. “It would spin up and die down, and then do it again.”

The Big Rock Fire started on the north bank of the Snake River, 30 miles west of the Wyoming state line, on July 31. As of Monday afternoon, the lightning-strike fire had burned nearly 2,500 acres and was 0% contained.

Duke lives around three miles from where the first flames were spotted. Since it was burning away from him, he decided to step outside to get some photos.

“I was working in the yard and could see the fire off in the distance,” he said. “I've got a pretty big wildlife lens on my camera, so I figured I’d try to go get a few action shots of helicopters dumping water buckets.”

From across the river, Duke could see the fire spreading and brush spontaneously bursting into flames from the surrounding heat.

As he watched and documented, the flames suddenly started swirling together. As multiple spokes of flame came together, they were thrust into the air.

“I was about a mile away from the spin,” he said. “It's hard to say how high it went, but I would guess a couple hundred feet.”

The spiral would slow down and collapse, only to surge upward again with renewed intensity.

“It was changing pretty quickly,” he said. “The sun was going down, temperatures and humidity were changing, and it was going uphill. That all affected how fast it was moving.”

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/jduke8/reel/DbhEfHYPnfu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="display:block;text-decoration:none;color:inherit;width:100%;max-width:460px;background:#ffffff;border-radius:12px;overflow:hidden;border:1px solid #dedede;box-shadow:0 1px 4px rgba(0,0,0,0.1);font-family:-apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,'Segoe UI',Roboto,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif"><div style="width:100%;aspect-ratio:16 / 9;background:rgba(0,0,0,0.05);overflow:hidden"><img src="https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/v/t51.71878-15/762864159_3272173343170551_6548764045925133745_n.jpg?stp=cmp1_dst-jpg_e35_s640x640_tt6&amp;_nc_cat=106&amp;ccb=7-5&amp;_nc_sid=18de74&amp;efg=eyJlZmdfdGFnIjoiQ0xJUFMuYmVzdF9pbWFnZV91cmxnZW4uQzIifQ%3D%3D&amp;_nc_ohc=5FNZo_pwvpgQ7kNvwGyBTVr&amp;_nc_oc=AdrgLBzSnjRELwx22kMgw4xQRLa1LpxeGfuMrBezQ4JMxYHI87v-Uxz9YXvxhEixvZQ&amp;_nc_zt=23&amp;_nc_ht=scontent.cdninstagram.com&amp;_nc_gid=2dkfk_SIZ8mIYJeyZIR6hw&amp;_nc_ss=70689&amp;oh=00_AQHdquCkKLmclx4ZhDHryBm-Osp5zT7jgaVqDE331avfDQ&amp;oe=6A76BBFA" alt="" onerror="this.onerror=null;this.src='https://static.cdninstagram.com/rsrc.php/yr/r/rzWiSjZRxk5.webp';this.style.objectFit='contain';this.style.padding='15%'" style="width:100%;height:100%;object-fit:cover;display:block" /></div><div style="padding:14px 16px;display:flex;flex-direction:column;gap:6px"><div style="display:flex;align-items:center;gap:8px;flex-wrap:wrap;min-height:15px"><img src="https://static.cdninstagram.com/rsrc.php/yr/r/rzWiSjZRxk5.webp" alt="" style="width:15px;height:15px;border-radius:4px;flex-shrink:0" /><span style="font-size:11px;font-weight:400;color:#999999;letter-spacing:0.5px;text-transform:uppercase">Instagram</span></div><div style="font-size:16px;font-weight:400;color:#000000;line-height:1.4;margin:0">Justin Duke (@jduke8) • Instagram reel</div><div style="font-size:13px;color:#000000;line-height:1.4;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-line-clamp:3;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;overflow:hidden;margin:0">108 likes, 4 comments - jduke8 on August 1, 2026: “The Big Rock fire spun up this little guy. Check out the trees for scale. #fire #seidaho #fireseason #wildfire”.</div></div></a>

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Fire Devils"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"These swirling spirals of fire are seen during many wildfires."}]

Many people call them “fire tornadoes.” Cowboy State Daily meteorologist Don Day would prefer they didn’t.

“It’s not a tornado moving into a wildfire,” Day said. “It’s not a fire strong enough to create a tornado, in terms of what a tornado actually is. Putting ‘-nado’ at the end of things isn’t the correct thing to do.”

Nevertheless, these “fire devils,” as Day prefers to call them, can be extremely dangerous. They result from a wildfire strong enough to essentially create its own weather as it burns and intensifies.

“The heat from the fire generates a lot of rising motion, because hot air has to lift,” Day said. “There’s a natural spin motion in the atmosphere that these tap into. When you combine that vertical motion of the heat and flame with the natural horizontal motion of the wind, you get a ‘fire devil.’”

That’s a distinctly different phenomenon from a tornado, even if they have some superficial similarities.

According to Day, fire devils are a signal that a wildfire is getting worse. As they form, they feed the flames burning at their base.

“These vertical motions draw air up, and when you draw air up, you're pulling oxygen into the fire, which makes it worse,” Day said. “If fire devils pop up, it’s a very dangerous situation for firefighters, and there's nothing you're going to be able to do to mitigate them.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Exorcising Devils"}]

 in southern Utah in July 2025. Jerod DeLay, assistant state forester and fire management officer with the Wyoming State Forestry Division, said he’d “never seen one as large as that.”

When firefighters respond to a wildfire, they don’t try to engage with the flames directly. They attempt to anticipate the fire’s next move and establish fire lines that will, hopefully, cut it off or redirect it into another line.

According to DeLay, fire devils tend to break through fire lines, making them even more dangerous and unpredictable.

“You have to make sure to see if your lines held,” he said in July 2025. “If your lines didn't hold, you make another plan to see where you can go. If they hold, you continue to strengthen and improve the lines that you already have.”

The one thing firefighters won’t do is attack the fire devil. It’s not worth the risk.

“You make sure you’re in a good, safe place and let it run its course,” DeLay said. “It adds another element that you probably weren't expecting.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Fire Season In Full Swing"}]

As of Monday, four confirmed wildfires were burning in northeastern Wyoming. Two, the Left Creek and Newton fires, sparked within 

Day, without wanting to jinx anything, said Wyoming was “lucky” to get through a dry July with only a few wildfires.

“I think that the higher humidity and thunderstorm activity we did see really kept the activity down in July,” he said. “We had a lot of thunderstorms that kept the mountains in northwest and western Wyoming very active. Where it fell, that July rain really helped.”

That said, Wyoming’s fire season extends from July through October. If the first days of August are any indication, many potentially dangerous months are ahead.

Duke wasn’t anticipating an evacuation from his Heise home. The fire’s still 0% contained, but responding agencies seem confident they’ll be able to protect people and structures.

“It’s just burning through trees and stuff on public land,” he said. “I don’t think the situation’s improved much, but I know they've got the structures protected, and that's the main concern.”

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. And where there’s fire, there’s a chance that a fire devil will spiral up and out of control.

Not every wildfire creates fire devils, but they’re real and potent threats that shouldn’t be underestimated.

“It was remarkable that we got through the month of July with very little activity in terms of wildfires in Wyoming,” Day said. “We dodged the bullet there, but I don't want to shout from the mountaintop that fire season's over. We’re not done, by a long shot.”

Fire tornado 1

<title>100-Foot ‘Fire Devil’ Spirals Out Of Control In Eastern Idaho Wildfire | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A wildfire watcher observing the Big Draw Fire in eastern Idaho on Sunday captured video of a spiraling tower of flame rising more than 100 feet into the air. "Fire devils" are created when flames reach high enough that they swirl.

100-Foot ‘Fire Devil’ Spirals Out Of Control In Eastern Idaho Wildfire

Headshot of Cowboy State Daily's managing editor, Greg Johnson.

Greg Johnson

Crime & Courts

Courts

 an 87-pound elderly man with cerebral palsy in her care who’s mostly deaf, mostly blind and wears adult diapers that allegedly hadn’t been changed in 10-14 days has reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.

The deal would knock down a felony charge of intentional neglect of a vulnerable adult to a misdemeanor neglect charge.

Under the deal, Colleen Blakesley, 67, will plead guilty or no contest to the lesser charge and, if the judge follows the sentencing recommendation outlined in the agreement, avoid jail time and have a year of unsupervised probation.

A no-contest plea isn’t an admission of guilt, but acknowledges there’s enough evidence to secure a conviction.

Had she been convicted of the felony, Blakesley faced up to 10 years in prison.

She had a hearing on the plea Friday, but paperwork on whether the deal was accepted, and if so, if sentencing had been set, hadn’t been filed by Monday, according to the Hot Springs County District Court.

A call to the county attorney to clarify wasn’t immediately returned. This story will be updated when the results of Friday's hearing are available.

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Started With A DFS Report"}]

The man’s condition came to the attention of the Thermopolis Police Department on Feb. 24 when a doctor doing a home visit for the man reported his condition to the Department of Family Services, according to an affidavit of probable cause written by Sgt. Nicole Andersen filed in the case.

Andersen and a DFS agent “received a complaint regarding an elderly male being neglected,” the affidavit says. “The complaint included that the male, who wears diapers, had not been changed for 10-14 days. This complaint came from a trained professional.”

They arrived to be hit with “a pungent, strong, foul smell in the home, although the living room area seemed relatively clean,” the affidavit says. “At this time, the victim … was in clean clothes.”

The elderly man isn’t vocal, and a family member told Andersen that he’s deaf, nearly blind and that they communicate with him by tracing letters in his hand, she wrote.

“I observed Robert was very skinny and not mobile,” she added, later documenting that at the hospital, the man “weighed approximately 87 pounds at the time of admission.”

[{"type":"text","marks":[{"type":"textStyle"},{"type":"bold"}],"text":"Man Was Combative"}]

Blakesley is the legal caregiver for the man, Andersen wrote, adding that Blakesley said he was last changed three days before.

“Upon speaking with Colleen, she advised she had last changed his diaper on Sunday afternoon, but also stated that he had been in the clothing he was observed in by the complainant for approximately two weeks due to him being combative and her not being able to change him,” according to the affidavit.

Blakesley also told police she was aware that the man had multiple sores on his body and had not seen a doctor since August 2024.

While Andersen observed the man in clean clothes, that wasn’t the case when the visiting doctor was at the home earlier that day, the affidavit says. The doctor also provided a photo of the man’s condition.

“In this photo, I observed (the man’s) pants to be extremely soiled and having the appearance of being wet, along with stains on his shirt — to include what appears to be staining near the bottom of the shirt of urine, feces, or both,” the affidavit says.

As the man was transported to a local hospital by ambulance, “I was advised that his condition was highly concerning to both EMS staff and the doctor,” Sergeant Andersen wrote. “I took photos of his wounds while in the hospital, while wearing protective gear as there was a concern of scabies.”

Thermopolis sign and police vehicle 8 3 26

<title>Deal Calls For No Jail For Thermopolis Caregiver Accused Of Neglecting Elderly Man | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Thermopolis woman accused of neglecting an 87-pound elderly man who’s mostly deaf and blind, and wears diapers that allegedly hadn’t been changed in 10-14 days has reached a plea agreement. The deal calls for no jail time and a year of probation.

Deal Calls For No Jail For Thermopolis Caregiver Accused Of Neglecting Elderly Man

Kolby fedore

Kolby Fedore

Inside Rawlins Family Church on Sunday afternoon, worshippers paused when the sound of blaring sirens rushed toward East State Street. 

[{"type":"text","text":"No one inside knew exactly what had happened."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"But Michelle Greer said she knew it was serious."}]

"We started hearing police cars," Greer told Cowboy State Daily. "Then I stepped outside."

Emergency vehicles from surrounded the intersection where a small bicycle lay twisted on the pavement. Nearby, a black tarp answered everyone's immediate question. 

"I was devastated," Greer said. "I work at the school, and I knew it was one of our kids. My heart was just so broken all day yesterday. I just couldn't even really function." 

The Rawlins Police Department confirmed an 8-year-old boy died Sunday after a collision involving a bicycle and a vehicle around 12:21 p.m. near East State Street and Jefferson Avenue. 

Officers from the Rawlins Fire Department, Carbon County Sheriff's Office, Carbon County EMS and the Wyoming Highway Patrol also responded.

A preliminary Wyoming Highway Patrol report says the boy was riding north on Jefferson Street when he possibly failed to stop at a posted stop sign before entering the intersection with East State Street. A Ram 2500 traveling east on State Street struck the child.

Investigators reported the roads were dry, the weather was clear, and the pickup driver was not injured. 

The crash remains under investigation and authorities have not released additional details.

For Greer, the facts mattered less in the immediate aftermath than the overwhelming sense of loss.

[{"type":"text","text":"As emergency crews worked, people gathered quietly nearby."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"They were coming down. They were standing on the street,\" she said. "}]

Roads around the scene were blocked for hours while investigators documented what happened. 

[{"type":"text","text":"'Happy-Go-Lucky' "}]

[{"type":"text","text":"The crash happened in an area where children are a common sight."}]

"State Street is pretty busy," Greer said. "Jefferson is not, but there's a park right behind our church, so there's always kids at the park." 

Only a week earlier, Greer had watched neighborhood children laughing together during a family event at that same spot.

[{"type":"text","text":"The child who died was among them. "}]

"He was there all day playing with all the kids," she recalled. "He was just happy-go-lucky, and he just had a great time the whole day." 

[{"type":"text","text":"That memory has replayed in her mind ever since."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"'We're Praying For Them'"}]

[{"type":"text","text":"Greer is also a mother."}]

Her daughter recently turned 18, and her son is 30. She said thinking about the victim's parents has been almost unbearable.

[{"type":"text","text":"\"Oh my gosh,\" she said. \"I can't even imagine that phone call.\" "}]

She said members of Rawlins Family Church are praying for the family and want them to know they are ready to help however they can.

"Our hearts go out to them," she said. "We're praying for them, and our church is there if they need any help or counseling." 

As police continue investigating what led to Sunday's tragedy, Greer hopes at least one lesson reaches other families.

Watching children ride bicycles and scooters through town has always made her nervous.

[{"type":"text","text":"Now, she says, it carries a different weight."}]

[{"type":"text","text":"\"It can be gone so fast,\" she said. "}]

Rawlins 20240525 rawlins 1104 4 18 26 1

<title>Rawlins Boy, 8, Dies When Hit By Truck While Riding Bicycle Outside Of Church | Cowboy State Daily</title>

A Rawlins churchgoer says her "heart was just so broken" after worshippers stepped outside of Sunday service to find remnants of a bicycle crash that killed an 8-year-old boy. "I work at the school, and I knew it was one of our kids," she said.

Rawlins Boy, 8, Dies When Hit By Truck While Riding Bicycle Outside Of Church

Public Lands

Just as wildland firefighters seemed to be getting a good handle on a

burning just outside the southwest boundary of a closed Devils Tower National Monument, another fire has erupted to the southeast.

The Newton Fire burning just east of Wyoming Highway 24 southeast of Devils Tower was discovered at about 1:15 p.m. Saturday, and had grown to an estimated 200 acres in a couple of hours, the National Interagency Fire Center and Crook County Emergency Management report.

Asked for an update on the wildfire situation around Devils Tower — which has closed the monument for much of Saturday and all of Sunday — county Emergency Management Coordinator Ed Robinson was blunt.

[{"type":"text","text":"“It sucks,” he said."}]

“We get one fire almost contained, and then we’re fighting another one now, too,” he told Cowboy State Daily from the scene of the Newton Fire on Sunday.

Although the 282-acre Left Creek Fire burning to the west is “not as bad as it was,” Robinson said that having another wildfire so close to the monument’s boundary “certainly doesn’t help any.”

While state forestry and National Park Service officials told Cowboy State Daily earlier on Sunday that they would evaluate the potential of reopening Devils Tower later in the afternoon, the new fire takes that option off the table, Robinson said.

Highway 24 has been closed from the “Y,” or where it branches off Highway 14 north toward Devils Tower, and all residents in the vicinity have been placed on “set” status to be prepared to evacuate, according to Crook County Emergency Management.

Just as firefighters seemed to be getting a handle on a nearly 300-acre fire burning just outside the southwest boundary of a closed Devils Tower, another fire erupted to the southeast Sunday. “It sucks,” was the blunt assessment from a county official.

You Still Here? Wednesday, July 3, 2024

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