Natrona County Fire District responds to 30 fires in 26 days

CASPER, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - If it has felt like there have been a lot of fires in Natrona County, you aren’t wrong. Since July 1, the Natrona County Fire District reports they have responded to 30 fires.

“We had 16 of those fires this weekend alone. Since Friday [July 22], we’ve had a multitude of wildland fires, a lot of smoke investigations, vehicle fires, and a couple of structure fires,” said NCFD Chief Brian Oliver.

Normally summer wildland fires are caused by lightning strikes, but this year the reasons for fires have been more varied. A large number of the responses have been to fires caused by people, many of those accidents.

If the weather continues to stay hot, higher-level fire bans could be in the future. One of the key determinants is how dry grasses and other burn materials are getting. The number of fires also plays a role in the decision.

“If we keep continuing to keep seeing the drying tend that we have now we’ll definitely start seeing stage two then a full fire ban might take effect before too long if we continue down this same road,” said Oliver.

The fire district is emphasizing the importance of mowing, especially around structures, to slow fires.