PINEDALE - Thank Mother Nature. And timely work by fire crews.

A fast-moving fire that prompted the evacuation of at least 200 people from summer homes and campgrounds near Fremont Lake north of here was halted late Thursday night, with no damage to structures or people.

"If it hadn't been for the helicopter and the slurry loads (and local fire agencies), we would have had a devastated north county for sure," Sublette County Sheriff Bardy Bardin said Friday. He had recommended evacuations of homes in three subdivisions between Fremont Lake and this mountain town.

Firefighters' efforts also got a boost from the weather, as the high winds that at first spread the blaze eventually brought in rains around 10 p.m.

"The rain helped a bunch," Bardin said. "It was a godsend …"

Conditions appeared so out of control Thursday evening that State Forester Bill Crapser said the state was preparing a declaration to seek federal assistance in dealing with the Pole fire and evacuees. But the storm dropped about an inch of rain over the fire that had consumed about 650 acres of sage, mixed juniper and pine since it was first reported Thursday afternoon.

"Mother Nature really helped us out last night," Crapser said Friday.

No structures were lost, but a power line was burned along with fences in the area. The downed power line also cut off power to about 1,100 people in the Barger subdivision for most of the day and some through the night.

Thursday night in Pinedale sounded like a war zone, as helicopters and slurry planes made drops on the Pole fire just north of town.

Fire department personnel from Boulder, Pinedale, Daniel, Bondurant, Big Piney and the Bureau of Land Management joined forces in the ground attack that started early Thursday afternoon on private lands. Fire crews had to access via the east-west Pole Creek Road that turns east off of Highway 191 just south of the town limits.

In the air, a helicopter with a bucket from the U.S. Forest Service was called in to draw water from an area irrigation canal and drop on the blaze.

By 2:30 p.m., the helicopter had made gains on the Pole fire. "(It) was doing an excellent job," Bardin said, adding that most of the fire was under control.

However, the helicopter needed to refuel, and the fire had knocked out power to the airport.

Bardin said the crew had to wait for a fuel truck to arrive before putting the chopper back in the air. "During that (down) time, the fire started up again," he said.

Once the fire jumped the road around 5:30 p.m. and started toward Lakeside Lodge, the winds shifted, turning the fire south. "At that point, it was rolling really fast," Bardin said.

Fire trucks raced up Skyline Drive past the town ball fields and on up to the fire area.

Bardin said that was when he made the call to start recommending evacuations first in the area of Sylvan Bay and the Fremont Lake upper and lower campgrounds. Soon after, the Forest Service asked law enforcement to shut down Fremont Lake at Pine Street.

Bardin said there was so much havoc that fire engines couldn't get past the vehicle traffic on Fremont Lake Road to get to the fires.

While Bardin went on up to the turnoff of Fremont Lake Road to Half Moon Lake, where he stopped traffic going into town, deputies went to the campgrounds to get people out. Boats from search and rescue, Wyoming Game and Fish, and personal use hit the water to take people from the Sylvan Bay area up to the lodge to run traffic through a two-track road in the CCC Ponds area. Bardin said a small pocket of fewer than 20 people were trapped where they were.

By about 7:30 p.m., Bardin said, the go-ahead came to let people back down from the Half Moon Lake turnoff into town.

But then the fire jumped the road by the old dump, "and (it) was picking up a lot of speed because of the dry conditions and the dry fuel along with the winds," Bardin said.

Bardin made another call for recommended evacuations for the Favazzo and Carmichael Hills subdivisions as well as the Riverside area along County Roads 101 and 102.

Bob Rule, whose house in the Orcutt Hill subdivision also received a recommended evacuation, announced over the KPIN radio station to his wife, who was safely out of the area: "Karen, I have your wedding ring and thyroid (medication)."

Gray and white smoke clouds rose high in the north sky above Pinedale as the smoke from the blaze hazed through the town.

Mayor Steve Smith also took to the airwaves with information for evacuees and fire updates throughout the night.

Evacuees were directed to Pinedale High School, where support from the Jackson Red Cross came in blankets and cots and a database was created to track the residents asked to evacuate.

No one was forced to evacuate, Bardin said, but it was recommended. Not everyone was happy to comply with the recommendation to leave their homes.

"I had a job to do, and I did it," Bardin said of his decision.

"I'd rather err - if there was any error - on the side of caution," he said. "I felt all of the judgment calls were proper and in the best interest of all the residents who lived in that area."

After the rainfall, Bardin said, "Fire crews had a debriefing and felt that the fire had burned down enough and the threat wasn't there anymore."

A call over the local radio station near 11 p.m. told residents they could go home. Campers were also allowed back to their spots at the Fremont Lake campgrounds, although they were also told to be ready to pack out Friday morning.

"The evacuation process went as well as could be expected," he said.

Bardin said the campgrounds had been officially closed Friday, with campers directed to other sites.

Bardin praised the response of local search and rescue volunteers as well as law enforcement.

While six slurry loads were ordered from the Forest Service, Bardin said four were dropped on the Pole fire. He estimated that 75 locals took part in the night fight as part of fire personnel, law enforcement and Tip Top Search and Rescue.

Fire crews were engaged in mop-up operations Friday. Bardin said they would probably last through the weekend.

The other fire

The Pole fire is separate from the Salt Lick fire, which is burning on Forest Service lands some 25 miles north of Pinedale.

A federal firefighting crew on Friday took over the fight against the Salt Lick fire in the Bridger-Teton National Forest, bringing more equipment and personnel.

The fire, first reported about noon Wednesday, has burned about 2,000 acres of heavy timber in the South Gypsum Creek area, Forest Service spokeswoman Nan Stinson said.

The Red Cliff Bible Camp located about three miles from the fire was evacuated Wednesday, and residents of about 30 private homes in the area were advised to prepare to evacuate, according to the U.S. Forest Service office in Pinedale.

Cooler temperatures and higher humidity late Thursday and Friday aided efforts to keep the fire in check, Stinson said.

"The fire pretty much kept its growth in check," she said.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.