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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How a Wind River Reservation crew’s behind-the-scenes work keeps firefighters going on Togwotee PassThe Fish Creek Fire has been burning for nearly a month up on Togwotee Pass. It’s currently around 25,000 acres, moving through dry forest in mountainous terrain. A camp crew from the Wind River Reservation has been tackling the behind-the-scenes work needed to keep the operation running. -
Wildfires have burned homes and killed cattle this summer. Just this week, several new starts sparked evacuation orders in Campbell and Albany counties, and crews still have their hands full with the Fish Creek Fire on Togwotee Pass. Wyoming Public Radio’s Nicky Ouellet recently caught up with Jerod DeLay. He’s the state’s fire management officer. They talked about how this year stacks up and what we can expect for the rest of the season. -
An evacuation order is still in effect for the residents of Borderline Estates and Ranchets. The Short Draw Fire is expected to continue to grow due to forecasted winds. -
The Bear Creek Fire is now approximately 2,500 acres with unknown containment. Multiple agencies are helping on the scene, including Albany and Platte county fire departments and the Bureau of Land Management. -
Residents who had to evacuate from the Fish Creek Fire can return to their homes, though they should remain alert to changing conditions. Half a dozen new fires have sparked in the north-central area but most have been contained. -
A new report shows climate change is causing more extreme fires, putting more homes at risk. The findings come as the Davis Fire south of Reno, which sparked on Sept. 7, 2024, has burned more than 5,000 acres and destroyed at least 14 buildings. -
Highway 26/287 over Togwotee Pass temporarily re-opened on Friday morning. The road’s been closed for most of the week as crews have worked to keep the Fish Creek Fire from jumping the highway. Expect slow speeds and limited visibility. -
Among them are incentives for risk reduction in the built environment and more sensible land use planning, as well as support for prescribed fire and workforce training. -
So far this year, more than 600 fires have burned some 629,000 acres in the state. The governor says private lands used for agricultural production have been disproportionately affected.
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As wildfires burn across the Western U.S., a new study using AI technology shows that evacuating a major tourist area in the Mountain West could take more than three times longer than local experts thought.
