An asphalt tank caught fire at the Sinclair Oil Refinery in Sinclair on Saturday, putting thick plumes of dramatic black smoke into the air that were seen for miles, and stirring fear online that the town or refinery might be in danger.
But Lenny Layman, Carbon County Emergency Management coordinator, told Cowboy State Daily there was no reason for fear. Firefighters on scene quickly controlled the blaze and put it out. Layman said the fire never posed a real threat to the refinery or town.
Officials closed the east side of Wyoming Highway 76 near the refinery out of “an abundance of caution,” Layman said.
“At this time, there’s no risk to the community or town of Sinclair,” Layman said at about 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
Layman said authorities monitored for burning asphalt to bubble up from the fire and spark small fires nearby but firefighters had been prepared to put them out instantly.
The thick plumes of smoke, he said, were due to the asphalt burning as fuel.
Asphalt tank fire at Sinclair refinery, Sept 20, 2025 (Courtesy: Brittany Coleman) 
Asphalt tank fire at Sinclair refinery, Sept 20, 2025 (Courtesy: Brittany Coleman) 
Asphalt tank fire at Sinclair refinery, Sept 20, 2025 (Reader photo: Brittany Coleman) 
Asphalt tank fire at Sinclair refinery, Sept 20, 2025 (Wyoming Department of Transportation) 
Asphalt tank fire at Sinclair refinery, Sept 20, 2025 (Wyoming Department of Transportation)
Firefighting With Foam
“I hope everyone’s ok,” said Ryan Lewis of Laramie, who was standing nearby. A former volunteer fire chief in the area, Lewis said fires in or near the refinery are rare.
“I haven’t heard of a fire up here in quite a while, quite a few years,” Lewis said.
He said he hoped the smoke wasn’t hazardous.
“It smells bad,” he said. “It’s not great.”
Emergency management officials said the fire posed no health concerns unless smoke made its way to town.
They monitored wind speeds in the area with the National Weather Service for just that reason, modeling and predicting the speed and direction the smoke could travel every three hours.
Emergency coordinators said they were also in direct contact with the Sinclair refinery and the town of Sinclair.
“At this time there is no concern," Carbon County Emergency officials said in an alert.
Firefighters attacked the blaze with foam, and by 1 p.m., the fire was nearly out. At 1:10 p.m., Sinclair police reported that the fire was out, according to an emergency alert.
Sinclair Reaction
Sinclair spokesperson Corinn Smith told Cowboy State Daily that emergency personnel responded to the tank fire at 11:15am and followed its response plan and extinguished the fire.
She said all personnel were accounted for and there were no injuries.
"The safety of people and the community remain our priority," Smith said.
Visible For Miles
The sight, however, was not going to be soon forgotten. Joey Correnti, a Cowboy State Daily contributor, lives about a 40-mile drive from Sinclair and said he could clearly see the heavy smoke the fire was throwing up.
“My back deck is in the northwest corner of the town of Saratoga, a straight shot bout 35 miles away, and I had no problem seeing it,” he said. "It looks like the plume goes all the way to Hanna.”
Correnti went to the refinery to check out the situation and said it seems contained within the Sinclair property.
“I’m at the refinery right now, and it looks like it’s where the train tracks and it’s a little east to the actual part of the refinery,” he said.
The fire's cause is under investigation, authorities said.
Justin George can be reached at justin@cowboystatedaily.com and Jackson Walker can be reached at walker@cowboystatedaily.com.
