A hillside smolders near Wheatland, spewing enough smoke to obscure the late-summer sunshine and darken the skies. The Britania Mountain Fire had burned approximately 24,105 acres of mostly Platte and Albany county property as of 7 a.m. Aug. 30. (Natrona County Fire District)
The 2018 fire season has seen the largest wildfire in California history, the most hectares ever burned in British Columbia and countless devastating conflagrations across the West, but Wyoming has remained safely clear of the headlines — until now.
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As of Thursday morning Aug. 30 the Britania Mountain Fire near Wheatland had burned 24,105 acres of Medicine Bow National Forest, Albany County land, Platte County land, Bureau of Land Management and private property, according to Brant Porter, public information officer for Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team Black. The blaze was sparked by lightning on Aug. 6 he said, and is being fought by a 368-person response team — including multiple 20-person hand crews, engine crews, four helicopters, seven single-engine, fixed-wing air tankers and an air-attack plane. The Natrona County Fire District, which posted this picture to its Facebook page, is one of the many local, state and federal agencies and private contractors to send personnel and equipment to the scene.
Wildfire Today reports that the fire has destroyed 16 structures. The blaze is about 33 percent contained, Porter said.
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