Wildfire Info and Resources
The following sites contain up-to-date information and resources for land and homeowners.
How will I know if I need to evacuate?
Evacuation notices will come from the county Sheriff’s Office. Many counties, like Teton County and Albany County, use a three-level system: Ready (Level 1 - make a plan), Set (Level 2 - prepare to leave), and Go (Level 3 - evacuate now). Others issue two levels: a pre-evacuation notice to get ready, and a mandatory evacuation order to leave now.
Check with your county’s Emergency Management department to sign up for phone, text or email alerts about emergency messages and advisories in your area.
Having a plan before an emergency develops is key. CalFire recommends making a Wildfire Action Plan to think through escape routes, how to keep pets and livestock safe, and what to bring. A basic packing list should include the 6 Ps:
- People and Pets
- Papers, phone numbers and Important Documents
- Prescriptions, Vitamins, and Eyeglasses
- Pictures and Irreplaceable Memorabilia
- Personal Computers (information on hard drive & disks)
- Plastic (credit cards, ATM cards, & cash)
Home preparation, adaptation and funding
The Wyoming State Forestry Division offers a risk assessment tool to help homeowners understand the risk and threat of wildfires near their property, especially in areas where the forest meets neighborhoods (also referred to as the WUI or Wildland Urban Interface). Property owners can also request a site visit from a state forester or a county fuels mitigation coordinator to assess wildfire threats on their land and learn what to do to lower risk. More information is available on the Forestry Division’s Fuels mitigation page.
Homeowners can do a lot to protect their homes and property from fire. CalFire has a list of home hardening tips, ranging from cleaning out gutters to suggestions for building materials, that can increase your home’s chances of surviving a wildfire.
Wyoming State Forestry keeps track of grant funding and assistance programs for fuel mitigation work. Some county conservation districts, like Teton’s, also have grants available to help private landowners with wildfire risk reduction projects. Federal agencies, like the U.S. Forest Service, also have grant funding available for communities to create or update Community Wildfire Protection Plans or carry out the plan’s projects.
Many communities in Wyoming are thinking about how to prepare their entire neighborhood, town or county for fire. The Fire Adapted Communities Learning Network posts community wildfire protection plans, tools for reducing wildfire risk across landscapes, and resources about recovering from wildfires.
Local wildfire info
Information about quickly changing fires often comes from Facebook pages for county government, fire departments or emergency management. These pages usually offer on-the-ground updates throughout the day, including the fire’s activity and direction, notices to prepare to evacuate and services available to those who’ve left their homes.
Another useful resource is an app called Watch Duty. It’s free, though you can pay for special features, and pulls together information from dispatch centers, first responders and other official and media reports as part of an interactive map. It can also share notifications for fires within counties you choose. Watch Duty is a non-profit staffed by volunteers, including retired wildland firefighters, dispatchers, first responders and reporters.
State Map and Resources
The State Forestry Division’s fire management website also shares links to regional situation reports, where burning restrictions are in place, contact information to report a wildfire and other resources.
Regional Map
The Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center posts blurbs about new and emerging wildfires on an interactive map covering Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado. It includes very basic early reports of new fires.
Nationwide Interactive Map
Large wildfires are managed by teams that include local, state and federal crews. The biggest fires show up on Inciweb, a nationwide interactive map. It offers daily updates and maps of impacted areas.
Where is the smoke coming from?
With fires comes smoke. Fire and Smoke Map shows where smoke might be blowing around and into the state.
Air Now and Air Quality Aware show near real-time readings from air quality monitors across the state that track smoke (also called PM 2.5) and ozone levels, and make basic recommendations about who should take precautions and how to protect your lungs.
Resources for recovery
Following 2024’s massive fire year, the state put together a Wildfire Recovery Guide, with lists of federal grants and funding programs available to private landowners impacted by fires.
The state Legislature also created the Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program in 2025 to offer relief to businesses impacted by a wildfire or other natural disaster. Rules for the program are still being drafted.
The state and University of Wyoming also researched financial and informational recovery resources for homeowners impacted by wildfires. Financial support is available for stock growers, agricultural producers and whole communities through state and federal programs. The site also has ideas for how to protect your home and land ahead of next season.
The Wyoming Department of Agriculture also compiles information about recovery and relief resources available to ag producers and ranchers.
Forest fires on purpose?
Fire managers often take advantage of wetter, colder days in spring and fall to intentionally burn small sections of the forest. These prescribed burns remove flammable material, like dead trees and slash left over from timber harvest projects, in a more controlled environment.
You may see smoke or not be able to access that area while crews do this work. Check with your local U.S. Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management district for closure notices.
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Fire departments across the state have responded to several other new blazes. -
Officials are asking folks to avoid areas of active firefighting to give crews room to work. -
Nationwide, the percentage of household income spent on homeowners insurance premiums nearly doubled between the early 2000s and 2022 – jumping from 1.2% to 2.1%. That’s according to recent analysis by the Insurance Research Council, an industry-supported nonprofit. Their projections suggest it could already be at 2.4 percent. -
Hot, dry weather and abundant fuels created the perfect storm for lightning-caused fires on the Western Slope and in southeastern Utah. Drought forecasters are predicting little relief later this summer. -
The persistent Dragon Bravo Fire on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon destroyed dozens of buildings this weekend. Perhaps none were more iconic than the Grand Canyon Lodge. -
The National Preparedness Level – or PL – system is a 1 to 5 scale that indicates how busy a season is. When determining the PL, officials consider fuel and weather conditions, current fire activity and the availability of resources throughout the country to respond. -
But a lot of industry representatives aren’t happy with portions of the law. -
As the Trump administration considers a major overhaul of the nation's leading disaster relief agency, a new poll finds the majority of Americans think the government should help affected communities in Wyoming and across the U.S. -
Consolidating wildfire response could professionalize the field and increase efficiencies, according to the expert WPR talked to. But it could also mean fewer of the collaborations that reduce the risk of destructive burns. -
The Forest Service's new chief recently published a letter that called for wildfires to be suppressed "as swiftly as possible." That may sound prudent to many, but it raised eyebrows among some who study fire policy. They worried that it may signal a return to aggressive suppression that has been linked to growing wildfire severity.
