Squirrel Creek Fire Continues To Grow

Evacuations around the Squirrel Creek Fire near Laramie continued to expand north from Sheep Mountain to Lake Hattie on Tuesday. One house has been destroyed, but there are no numbers yet on how many more are threatened. 

Incident Commander Rocky Opliger says the fire’s proximity to residences as well as its erratic nature are keeping it the third priority fire in the nation.

“We’re still looking at that 5-6% containment. You know, while we gained a little ground, we lost ground on the acreage on the growth side, we’ve also got activity to the west. That’s more of a backing fire but that’s very difficult terrain for the firefighters,” said Opliger.

Requested support for this fire is trickling in.  Fire retardants are being dropped, additional planes were added Tuesday for water drops, and the size of the crew is expected to grow to 1,000 people. An infrared flight will help to better evaluate the damage.