The Dollar Lake Fire continues to rage out of control about 40 miles north of Pinedale in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, exploding to more than 10,000 acres by Friday evening.
First reported Thursday afternoon at about 20-30 acres, extremely dry conditions, a heavy load of fuel and erratic winds fanned the fire all day Friday, driving the flames south, said Sandy Wright, a lifelong area resident and co-owner of the Kendall Valley Lodge and Mule Shoe Outfitters with her husband, Justin.
The lodge is just across the Green River from the fire, and Wright has watched it spread.
“It’s moved quite a bit south across the valley from us, and now they’re evacuating the Bible camp that’s in the path of the fire right now,” she told Cowboy State Daily on Friday evening.
That would be the Red Cliff Bible Camp nestled east of the river a few miles south of Dollar Lake. Residents and campers in the area were ordered to leave Thursday and more are evacuating as the fire has spread, she said.
“It’s still on the other side of the river from us now, but at Dollar Lake the fire did jump the road into some sagebrush,” Wright said.
Having a front-seat view of the fire unfold from the lodge just across the river has been surreal, Wright said.
“That smoke plume in the sky is huge right now,” she said. “And it’s getting closer to us at the top of this ridge.”
The fire is throwing up so much smoke, it’s visible from space on its weather satellite images, the National Weather Service’s Riverton office reports.
Making A Run
Waking up to the fire having grown to about 1,400 acres by Friday morning was concerning, Wright said. But when the winds kicked in, that’s when the fire really took off.
“The winds switched and caused the fire to make a run, and the fire’s running south right now,” she said. “It’s probably moved 3 or 4 miles to the south of where it started.
“It’s also still burning from up there where it started,” Wright added. “Every now and again we see some big, black clouds of smoke come up.”
Ready To Help
The wildfire also is threatening more homes and burning through precious forage for local ranchers, Wright said.
There are plenty of people with trailers and other equipment ready to help, but the fire is just too dangerous to get close to, she said.
“We have a lot of people here concerned about evacuations and getting all our livestock out and stuff,” she said. “I have a lot of people messaging and calling and asking us what we see and don’t see.
“It’s starting to get closer to homes now, too. Everybody’s on standby with trucks and trailers to get everybody’s livestock in the valley.”
While firefighting resources on the ground are getting organized, there’s been an aggressive aerial attack on the fire all day Friday, Wright said.
As unpredictable and sudden the Dollar Fire’s growth has been, Wright said there’s only one thing she knows for sure: “It’s getting bigger by the minute.”
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
