ANTHONY LANE Star-Tribune staff writer with wire reports | Posted: Saturday, June 10, 2006 12:00 am
Rain and hail on Friday helped firefighters working to control two blazes burning on the Wind River Indian Reservation, a Fremont County fire official said.
Craig Haslam, the county fire warden, said fires at Bull Lake and Wise Flat - each estimated to have burned about 1,000 acres - were close to being contained by Friday afternoon.
Five 20-person crews along with three helicopters and eight engines were fighting the fires.
Lightning was believed to have started both fires earlier this week, though fireworks also have been blamed for some recent blazes on the reservation.
The Joint Tribal Council on Friday instituted a ban on fireworks until conditions improve. There is no ban in effect for campfires.
In the Casper area, firefighters were "mopping up" on Friday at the larger of two fires that flared up on Casper Mountain on Thursday.
Casper Mountain, Natrona County, Casper, Mills and federal fire crews were among those called on Thursday to fight fires in the Crimson Dawn and Garden Creek Heights areas.
Jeff Kuhn, a shift commander with Casper Fire-EMS, said the Crimson Dawn fire burned roughly one-third of an acre, with the Garden Creek fire somewhat smaller.
Current conditions, Kuhn said, with frequent thunderstorms and trees still dry from years of drought, are ripe for a busy fire season.
Dave Baker, fire inspector for the Natrona County Fire Protection District, said the fire season is progressing much like other years, with an exception.
"It's just a little early," Baker said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.