Western Wyoming Lodge Owners Watch Campers Flee Out-Of-Control Wildfire

A dangerous and fast-moving wildfire that prompted immediate evacuations in the Dollar Lake area of Sublette County has scrambled firefighting resources as it’s blown up to nearly 1,400 acres overnight.

The Dollar Lake fire burning about 40 miles north of Pinedale, Wyoming, was at about 20-30 acres when first reported Thursday afternoon, but exploded to an estimated 1,388 acres by Friday morning, the National Interagency Fire Center reports.

It’s also about 5.5 miles east of Square Top Mountain.

When first discovered, homes and campgrounds in the area were immediately evacuated, the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office reports. Green River Lakes Road also is closed north from where it intersects with Wyoming Highway 352.

“There is a fast-moving wildland fire near Dollar Lake in the Green River Lakes area,” says the sheriff’s office’s evacuation notice. “If you are in the area, please evacuate immediately.”

The blaze is chewing through dense overgrowth that includes some pine beetle-damaged trees, said Sandy Wright, a lifelong area resident and co-owner of the Kendall Valley Lodge and Mule Shoe Outfitters with her husband, Justin.

Wright said they’ve had front-row seats to watch the fire explode, adding that it’s east of the Green River, while her lodge is on the west side. The lodge has closed, but hasn’t yet had to evacuate, Wright told Cowboy State Daily on Friday.

“It’s moving north and west right now, and with the river they have it contained on the west side,” Wright said. “Right now, it’s so smoky and hazy that we can’t see anything outside.”

Watched It Grow

They saw plenty Thursday afternoon and evening, Wright said, adding that it was frightening and bone-chilling to witness.

At the time it was reported, she and her husband went out to observe it from across the river, and watched it grow from about 30 acres to hundreds, she said.

“We went up within 30 minutes of it being reported, and it was only 20-30 acres then, and we watched it burn and jump and all the planes come in,” Wright said.

“When we were up there yesterday afternoon, that pillar of cloud smoke was just huge, and it had to have embers in it flying all over,” she added. “As we were watching, we saw another smoke column flare up about a quarter mile away, so it was skipping.”

When she and her husband bought Kendall Valley Lodge 12 years ago, she said they did a lot of tree clearing and thinning around the property to mitigate the fire danger. But being extremely familiar with the terrain, Wright said she knows there’s a lot of dry, dense fuel for this wildfire.

“It’s hitting some really thick timber on those hillsides on the west of that road and there’s a lot of old beetle-kill that has been there for a few years,” she said. “We have experienced fires before in our area, but this one is fairly close to us.”

Immediate Response

The Bridger-Teton National Forest reports that aerial assets were deployed immediately to begin trying to limit the fire’s spread as wildfire crews mobilize.

Wright saw those aerial attacks and said she was impressed with how quickly they got there.

“We watched those planes and stuff yesterday,” she said. “A helicopter was dipping straight out of the river and trying to keep the fire in check to the south. Then there was a big (jet), and they were making a difference.”

But by about 8 p.m., they had to stop because it was getting too dark.

‘Everybody’s Concerned’

She also said they watched as the evacuation unfolded, with the sheriff’s office and U.S. Forest Service personnel guiding campers and homeowners out of the area.

“We watched lots of campers and vehicles come out as they evacuated the campground up there,” Wright said. “We have a lot of recreational use here in the summers, ATVs and stuff, all the way to Dubois.”

People with summer homes in the area who aren’t there now also are calling the lodge asking about the fire, Wright said.

“Everybody’s concerned,” she said. “There are a lot of summer homes right here in the Kendall Valley, and we have a lot of people calling and asking about it. But unless that fire crosses the river, at this time we’re OK.”

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is available.

Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.