Editor’s Note: This is a developing story and will be updated as more information is available.
All homes and campsites within a 5-mile radius of the volatile Dollar Lake Fire in Sublette County have been evacuated as the blaze continues to spread out of control along the eastern side of the Green River.
At the same time, a Type 3 wildfire incident management team has been deployed to battle the fire, arriving Friday. With more assets on the scene, the team adjusted the estimagted size of the fire to 5,000 acres Friday evening.
That’s half the 10,000 acres that had initially been reported by the National Interagency Fire Center on Friday evening. The NIFC later updated its estimate to 8, 661 acres at 12:20 a.m. Saturday.
The fire remains unpredictable and dangerous for anyone in the area, reports Sierra Front/Nevada Team 5, which is now in charge of the response. Early fire size reports often overestimate to avoid underplaying the potential danger. Accuracy in those early estimates isn’t the top priority for fire managers.
“The priority for the team is the safety of firefighters and the public,” the Sierra Front team says in its first fire update release Friday night. “To that end, the team is working with the Bridger-Teton National Forest and the Sublette (County) Sheriff’s Office to communicate and enforce evacuation and closure orders.”
Since it was discovered at about 20-30 acres Thursday afternoon, the Dollar Lake Fire has spread quickly over a wide swath, mostly south and east, and is 0% contained.
People “are strongly encouraged to stay well away from the fire area, especially the area between the fire and the Bridger Wilderness boundary,” according to the Sierra Front team.
Among the areas evacuated are multiple campgrounds and the Red Cliff Bible Camp nestled east of the river a few miles south of Dollar Lake.
All homes and campsites within a 5-mile radius of the volatile Dollar Lake Fire in Sublette County have been evacuated as the blaze continues to spread out of control along the eastern side of the Green River. (Courtesy U.S. Forest Service, Bridger-Teton National Forest) 
All homes and campsites within a 5-mile radius of the volatile Dollar Lake Fire in Sublette County have been evacuated as the blaze continues to spread out of control along the eastern side of the Green River. (Courtesy U.S. Forest Service, Bridger-Teton National Forest) 
All homes and campsites within a 5-mile radius of the volatile Dollar Lake Fire in Sublette County have been evacuated as the blaze continues to spread out of control along the eastern side of the Green River. (Courtesy U.S. Forest Service, Bridger-Teton National Forest) 
All homes and campsites within a 5-mile radius of the volatile Dollar Lake Fire in Sublette County have been evacuated as the blaze continues to spread out of control along the eastern side of the Green River. (Courtesy U.S. Forest Service, Bridger-Teton National Forest) 
All homes and campsites within a 5-mile radius of the volatile Dollar Lake Fire in Sublette County have been evacuated as the blaze continues to spread out of control along the eastern side of the Green River. (Courtesy U.S. Forest Service, Bridger-Teton National Forest)
Setting Up
Even with the Type 3 team arriving, there are still limited resources working the fire now, “though more resources have been ordered and are coming,” the team reports.
“Firefighters are working to ensure all non-firefighting personnel have been evacuated from the fire area as well as scouting for control features to begin anchoring fire containment lines and continuing to control and secure the Green River Lakes Road,” it adds.
That road also is closed at its intersection with state Highway 352.
Awesome, And Terrifying
Situated across from the fire on the west side of the Green River is the Kendall. Valley Lodge and Mule Shoe Outfitters.
Sandy Wright operates the lodge while her husband Justin runs their outfitting guide business. They’ve watched the fire grow from the beginning, and said it’s been both awesome and terrifying.
“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.
“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.”
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.”
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.”
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.
View of the smoke from the Dollar Lake Fire from the National Weather Service's Riverton monitoring station. (National Weather Service, Riverton office) 
The smoke plume from the Dollar Lake Fire is clearly blowing across Wyoming in this satellite image from the National Weather Service. (National Weather Service, Riverton office)
Ready To Help
The wildfire also is threatening 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.”
Other Fires
As the Dollar Lake Fire grows and wildland firefighters gather to fight it, progress is reported by teams fighting other large Wyoming wildfires.
• At nearly 125,000 acres, the Red Canyon Fire about 11 miles east of Thermopolis hasn’t grown over the past 24 hours as the 566 personnel fighting it have increased containment to 53%, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
• The Sleeper Ranch Fire remains just under 20,000 acres burning northeast of Meeteetse and is 90% contained.
• The 3,600-acre Spring Creek fire about 10 miles southeast of Ten Sleep is reported at 71% contained, the NIFC reports.
The estimated cost of fighting these three fires so far is about $15.7 million, with $12.2 million of that attributed to the Red Canyon Fire. A running estimated cost for the Dollar Lake Fire isn’t available yet.
Earlier this week, Gov. Mark Gordon declared a statewide wildfire emergency in Wyoming, opening the door for up to 75% of costs to be federally reimbursed to the state.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
