Diamond fire burns 2,168 acres

Lisa Phelps
Posted 10/30/24

CHUGWATER – Approximately 2,168 acres of grazing land burned near the Diamond Ranch west of Chugwater last week. The fire was noticed on Tuesday, Oct. 22 around 11 a.m., and extinguished by …

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Diamond fire burns 2,168 acres

Posted

CHUGWATER – Approximately 2,168 acres of grazing land burned near the Diamond Ranch west of Chugwater last week. The fire was noticed on Tuesday, Oct. 22 around 11 a.m., and extinguished by Wednesday just before 4 p.m. Approximately 60 engines, 100 people, and aerial support from SEAT, LAT planes, and Type I helicopters (see inset) were used to douse the flames.
Platte County fire warden Aaron Clark said the fire was giving the crew some difficulty as they were trying to box it off from the Diamond ranch buildings. “We had to focus a lot of attention to keep it from the Diamond – it was a pretty good bunch of work to keep it off.”
At one point, Clark said, there weren’t any engines where the fire was advancing in one location. “The Incident Commander Type III (see inset) that was directing the [planes] saw it. There was a LAT plane coming in and he told them to drop their slurry in front of the fire….it was fantastic to see what it did.”
Clark took a photo after the fact of the location of that drop, which he said, “Is as good of an example as I’ve ever seen to demonstrate how effective slurry drops can be.” He intends to use the photo in future wildland firefighter training programs.

Fire departments from Antelope Gap, Palmer Canyon, Glendo Rural, Guernsey Rural, Town of Wheatland, Goshen County, BLM, Wyoming State Forestry, F.E. Warren Air Force Base, and Laramie County assisted Chugwater Volunteer Fire Department in extinguishing the blaze.
Clark said he wanted to recognize one group of firefighters he has the highest respect for – and who have the dirtiest, hardest job of any of the crews in his opinion: the Smokebusters. He explained, this crew of non-violent inmates from the Wyoming State Penitentiary is a hand-crew responsible for many of the mop-up operations to ensure the hot spots are fully extinguished. “I want to give an A+ to the Wyoming inmate hand crew. These guys are highly trained, and they are very good at their jobs…It is dirty work, and 14 of them were chopping shrubs up, and were on their hands and knees checking for heat to make sure the fire is fully out. They aren’t paid. The only thanks they get is good food and the satisfaction of helping the community.”
He said there are precautions with the inmates who are a part of the Smokebusters – they wear different shirts so everyone knows who they are, and a supervisor is assigned to constantly keep track of them all. Clark describes the crew as inexpendable.
The cause of the fire is believed to be an electric powerline malfunction, which created a spark, but is still under investigation.
The Platte County Sheriff’s Department issued a statement on the fire which said,
“A big thank you to all that have helped, and continue to help with this fire. With the [dry, windy] conditions, this fire had potential to grow very large and get out of control. It is a testimony to how amazing our local firefighters are.”
Clark said the drought conditions in the county continue to present a high risk of fire danger. “Things aren’t looking good – everybody needs to be careful,” he cautioned.