THERMOPOLIS — Emotions ran high as people from around Hot Springs County gathered Monday night at the local high school auditorium, nearly a week after lightning touched off what has grown into the Red Canyon Fire — the largest wildfire in Wyoming this fire season at about 110,000 acres.
For the hundreds of ranchers and residents of this rural county, that’s more than a big number in a report, those 110,000 acres represent forage for cattle, generational ranches and livelihoods.
They wanted to get the best information about the fire and what’s being done to stop it, and help start the recovery process.
It was not entirely all good news.
“Unfortunately, there is still a lot of fire out there,” said Patrick Johnson, fire behavior analyst with the Rocky Mountain Area Complex Management Team 2 in charge of fighting the fire. “Tuesday it's going to be a little bit hotter, a little bit drier, and it's going to be the low humidity recovery overnight. So, I'm expecting fire to be able to start getting active once again, 10, 11 in the morning and pretty much throughout the day until after sunset.”
The good news was that instead of a “dirty” burn that left behind fuel for potential more fires, Johnson said he expects to see the fuel completely used up.
“What we were seeing is more continuous impact,” Johnson said. “It’s burning through all of the fuels, and it has a lower potential to spread around. It just makes it a little more predictable, a little easier to deal with in that aspect.”
The growth of the fire has slowed, only up about 2,200 acres Tuesday from the evening before, the complex team reports.
There also are more personnel on the Red Canyon Fire at 471, and the fire remains at 28% contained burning mostly grass and brush bout 11 miles east of Thermopolis.
The containment is mostly on the western side and northern part of the wildfire.
The Thermopolis High School Auditorium was packed Monday night with concerned community members and ranchers affected by the Red Canyon Fire in rural Hot Springs County. Gov. Mark Gordon and other officials were present to answer questions and start the recovery process for those most devastated by the fire. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Gov. Mark Gordon and other officials met one on one with concerned citizens in Thermopolis to address the Red Canyon Fire. Recovery efforts are already underway and Gordon announced he had already signed a disaster declaration. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
State Sen. Ed Cooper and Gov. Mark Gordon spoke directly to Hot Spring County ranchers and their concerns about the response to the Red Canyon Fire. The Axtell family had fought the blaze for two days before more relief had been brought in and were also concerned about communication. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Lindy Linn’s family’s historic ranch is currently surrounded by flames from the Red Canyon Fire and she was one of many ranchers at the town hall meeting in Thermopolis on Monday seeking answers. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily)
Behavior Of Red Canyon Fire
The Red Canyon Fire has blown up to about 110,000 acres, and Johnson said that it’s a wind-driven fire that spreadsquickly. For nearly four days, the fire would not burn the entire area and flare ups were a constant concern.
“We'd have to go back and monitor all of that, make sure that it wasn't going to get behind us and start up again,” Johnson said.
The wind also hampered the suppression efforts.
“We would have outflow winds from those thunderstorms, blow 30-40 mph and really push all along the finger of fire,” Johnson said. “It made it tough to attack those fires and for firefighters to engage safely when you're out in front of the fire and you don't know when the wind is going to switch, it makes it a really dangerous place.”
Communication Concerns
Ranchers and first responders addressed communication concerns as one of the top priorities at the town hall meeting.
Chip Axtell, a rancher who successfully fought off the fire from his property, said that during past fires, he was given radios for direct communications with firefighters. That hasn’t happened this time, he said.
RMACMT2 officials stressed that communication with ranchers is key to quickly getting the Red Canyon Fire under control.
“This team wants to work with the ranchers to coordinate those efforts,” Incident Commander Jay Mickey said. “We believe that if we can coordinate those efforts with the ranchers, that we will all be more effective to put this fire out quicker. It'll also allow us to do it safely.”
Gov. Mark Gordon was also in Thermopolis to hear directly from landowners and to address both suppression and recovery efforts. He had declared a wildfire emergency in Wyoming earlier in the day.
“It's important on these events when you have a change of command and you've gone to a type 2 that people have an opportunity to hear what that type two team can bring, the assets they have and the way they've organized it,” Gordon told Cowboy State Daily. “It's also really important for the community to have a chance to interact and understand what's going on, know the faces and understand the people.”
Gordon said that he came to Thermopolis to let the community know that they are trying to do everything they can to get all the possible resources to the area while keeping everyone as safe as possible.
“When you have something like this one where the fire is going in all directions, that's as dangerous as can be,” Gordon said. “We don't want to lose a life.”
Recovery Efforts Already Underway
Ranchers whose properties have already been ravaged sought help at the town hall.
“It’s too late to save my fields,” one rancher said, fighting back tears. “What do we do now?”
In answer to that question, asked by many at the town hall, officials said that recovery efforts are already being made even as others are still fighting the blaze.
“I signed a disaster declaration yesterday,” Gordon had told the assembled crowd. “That starts a process that will be helpful in the recovery.”
He said that he is already working on emergency funding and has reached out to the Stock Growers Association to see about possible fundraising efforts such as they have done in the past.
“People in Wyoming always try to help each other in their neighbors,” Gordon said. “This is no different. This is a devastating, devastating fire.”
“It’s scary when you start seeing these fires roll out onto private lands and you know how the rancher’s livelihoods at stake,” said Kelly Norris of the Wyoming State Forestry Division. “There's just a sense of urgency to immediately help as quickly as we can. It really hits close to home when we have fires this big in Wyoming.”
State Sen. Ed Cooper, R-Ten Sleep, said that the reason he helped organize the meeting was to get the public the information needed to best respond to the Red Canyon Fire, both those still fighting it and those that are facing the aftermath of the fire’s fiery destruction.
“My goal here was to get these ranchers that were so affected by it in front of the governor for a few minutes,” Cooper said. “Then, as soon as this is done, Gordon will put together a post-fire group and (ask) what did we learn? That's critical.”
The main thing for ranchers in recovery mode can do, according to the U.S. Forest Service, is to document their losses as soon as they can get back to their ranches.
“There's multiple steps that they will be able to take with assistance programs,” Norris said. “There's going to be the Farm Bureau, there'll be conservation districts.”
She said that since ranchers will have different needs, it is vital that they understand what their losses are.
Looking To The Future
“After the fire, the state is going to try to be really Johnny-on-the-spot to help as much as we can,” Gordon said. “We want to make sure we get things back as best we can, as quickly as we can.”
Part of that recovery effort will include battling the invasion weeds that will sprout up after the fire and expanding the Forest Service’s ability to handle these types of fires, according to Norris.
“There's been a lot of discussion about maybe expanding because we don't have firefighters beyond just seasonal or one inmate park crew,” Norris said. “Fire seasons are just getting more difficult.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
