Fast-Acting WYDOT Worker Spots New Wildfire, Calls 911, Then Helps Put It Out

An alert Wyoming Department of Transportation worker spotted a new wildfire taking off 7 miles north of Sheridan along I-90. He called 911, then jumped into action himself, helping to put it out before the fire became a catastrophe.

RJ
Renée Jean

October 11, 20247 min read

Jacob Williamson discovered a wildfire burning near Sheridan. He stopped, called it in, then got busy fighting it.
Jacob Williamson discovered a wildfire burning near Sheridan. He stopped, called it in, then got busy fighting it. (Courtesy Photo)

Quick thinking helped avert a fresh Wyoming wildfire catastrophe about 7 miles north of Sheridan near the Acme exit off Interstate 90.

Jacob Williamson, a Wyoming Department of Transportation District 4 worker, spotted a plume of smoke near the Acme intersection as he was heading back to his office to finish up some paperwork at about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon.

“The smoke really lays in this valley from the Elk Fire so bad, and it’s hard to tell visually what’s new smoke and what’s old,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “But that day, the wind came through and it had blown all the Elk Fire smoke out of here.”

That made the little plume of smoke clearly visible, and it had Williamson immediately worried. Sheridan County has been without rain for more than 20 days now. Things are so dry and brown, the slightest spark is all it takes to start a roaring fire, and then it’s off to the races.

“So I was like, I better come see what’s over here,” he said.

Once he turned the corner, he could then clearly see the fire that was producing that tiny plume of smoke.

The first thing he did was to call 911 and report the fire. Then he went looking for the fire extinguisher he usually keeps in his truck.

“I couldn’t find it, so I turned my safety lights on and hauled butt back to the job site,” he said. “S&S Builder’s crew, the contractor we are working with on the Monarch Bridge, gave me one of their fire extinguishers,” he said.

Williamson was back at the fire within a few minutes. He jumped over the fence and started spraying the little 20-pound fire extinguisher on the fire.

Proud To Join The Hillbilly Hotshots

By now, though, the tiny fire was really too big for a fire extinguisher to do much.

“It had really only taken me a couple of minutes to get the fire extinguisher,” Williamson said. “But by the time I got back to the fire, it had grown at least 100 feet longer than it was when I first called 911.”

The fire was growing so fast, and Williamson was just a guy in blue jeans — a so-called “hillbilly hotshot.”

That’s a term that generally refers to those who have outfitted their trucks with tanks of water, determined to patrol their neighborhoods, and put out any burning embers they see. They helped save homes in the Double Rafter Ranch and in the Horseshoe subdivision from the Elk Fire.

Williamson told Cowboy State Daily he was proud to become a member of the informal crews patrolling for fire, and that he thinks that is exactly what everyone needs to be doing right now — looking out for every ember and plume of smoke started by a stray spark.

“I think that helps a lot, just everyone’s willingness to put yourself into the risk of helping make sure to put the fire out,” he said.

  • Firetrucks and local "hillbilly hotshots" worked together to put out a fresh fire 7 miles north of Sheridan on Wednesday.
    Firetrucks and local "hillbilly hotshots" worked together to put out a fresh fire 7 miles north of Sheridan on Wednesday. (Courtesy Photo)
  • The fire's been knocked down.
    The fire's been knocked down. (Courtesy Photo)
  • Local residents and firefighters work together to put out a fire 7 miles north of Sheridan.
    Local residents and firefighters work together to put out a fire 7 miles north of Sheridan. (Courtesy Photo)

Rodeo Boys Come Running

Williamson didn’t have a water tank on his truck, but he was going to do whatever he could to slow the fire down, even if it was just digging up piles of dirt to dump on the fire at the perimeter to slow things down.

“The heat coming off of it was incredible,” he said. “It was just so unbearable. I have so much respect for the firemen.”

Fortunately, Williamson didn’t have to wait long before a few more local residents showed up to pitch in.

The S&S Builder’s Crew had decided they’d better hop in their trucks and check on Williamson. They brought another fire extinguisher with them, as well as more shovels.

Before too long, a sheriff’s deputy and a Wyoming state trooper showed up. They, too, jumped right in, grabbing some shovels to work alongside Williamson and the S&S Builders crew.

“We did our due diligence and didn’t waste any time shoveling the fire out until the fire department could show up,” Williamson said.

Then three younger rodeo boys drove by, and they stopped to help as well.

“When they saw what we were doing, they flipped around at the port of entry,” Williams said.

They brought about 15 gallons of water and grabbed shovels to help with the digging.

Shovels Made The Biggest Dent

Williamson was grateful so many passersby were willing to stop and help, and that’s what he hopes everyone will do if they see a fire trying to take off right now.

“We were kind of worried was that with all the volunteers being exhausted on the Elk Fire, we weren’t sure who was going to show up when,” Williamson said. “So we were just basically staying on it as long as we could.”

They didn’t have to wait too long, though, before volunteer fire departments showed up on scene, with water hoses ready to rock the fire.

By then, the fire had grown to a couple of acres in size, Williamson said. But that was no problem for the volunteer firefighters with their water trucks to quickly squelch.

Hindsight is 20-20, but if there was one thing Williamson were to change, it would likely be to just have more shovels in the back, as well as making sure that the fire extinguisher is where it is supposed to be.

“The shovels were the most useful, though” he added. “They made more of a dent than the fire extinguisher did.”

Fire May Have Been Caused By Cigarette

Once the fire was out, attention turned to the fire’s cause.

“They could tell from the residual burn mark next to the roadway that it likely had not been purposely started,” Williamson said. “Maybe somebody threw a cigarette out, or maybe it was a catalytic converter or possibly some trailer chains, because it started right off the asphalt.”

Williamson hopes people will be more mindful of such things as they travel through an area that is a tinder box, waiting for any little spark to start another huge fire, like the Elk Fire that has already consumed 76,000 acres, and continues to grow.

In this particular case, Williamson was in the right place at the right time to spot the fire early and stop it. But it could have gone much differently.

“I’m not really sure why I had driven that way to get on the interstate,” Williamson said. “Something just told me to go that way. And we usually don’t quit at 1:30 p.m., it’s more like 4 o’clock.”

If Williamson had continued working until 4 pm., he wouldn’t have been able to see the smoke at the Acme intersection.

“It would have had to be a pretty large fire for us to see it there because of the amount of trees in the way,” he said. “So me leaving two and a half hours earlier than usual is the only reason I visually saw the fire.”

What impressed Williamson the most, though, was just how many passersby were willing to help when the moment required it.

“Nobody hesitated,” he said. “We all did what we thought needed to be done. Everybody jumped right in.”

Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.

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RJ

Renée Jean

Business and Tourism Reporter