fire

Residents of Orr Hall Dormitory at the University of Wyoming were evacuated early Tues. morning, Feb. 14 after a fire was reported in one of the rooms.

With consistent cold weather, space heaters and other strategies to warm your home can put it at risk for a fire. According to the National Fire Protection Association, there is an increased risk of house fires during the winter. And house fires can create another problem for nearby residents.

A series of events in Laramie are focusing on what living with wildfire really means in the future. Mullen Days is looking at this through the lens of the Mullen Fire, which was Wyoming’s largest single-source fire in the fall of 2020. It burned more than 170,000 acres in the Snowies.

The problem is a nationwide trend that's impacting fire departments and their ability to serve communities. Campbell County is one of the few counties that pays part-time firefighters and is tasked with covering approximately 5,000 square miles. Currently, there are 32 full-time firefighters and 56 part-time ones.

Much of the Mountain West is in the midst of a heat wave, but what does that mean for wildfires? The National Interagency Fire Center forecasters say it depends on what happens next. Extreme heat can dry out fuels, starting with grass and brush and then drying out trees. If that’s followed by more hot, windy weather and thunderstorms, that’s a recipe for more wildfires.

The Wyoming State Forester says he is expecting a bigger than average fire season. Bill Crapser joins Wyoming Public Radio's Bob Beck to discuss that and the fact that the number of available firefighters is diminishing.

Much more research has been done to evaluate wildfire mitigation strategies in forests.

In Boise's Warm Springs Mesa neighborhood, a new alert system is the latest step in efforts to improve the community's response and communication in the event of a wildfire or other emergency, as the memory of the Table Rock fire is still fresh for most residents.

A University of Wyoming graduate student has created a docuseries that focuses on Wyoming and surrounding regions, telling the story of those who have been affected first-hand by environmental and climate change. The series' creator Taryn Bradley spoke with Wyoming Public Radio's Hugh Cook.

As wildfire season begins in earnest across parts of the Mountain West, firefighting agencies will also be battling the tightest labor market in decades and a housing affordability crisis. A Bureau of Land Management spokesperson at the National Interagency Fire Center, doesn't expect staffing to be an issue. She says that while fire seasons are becoming "fire years," the real focus is juggling and balancing the teams’ schedules.