Squirrel Creek Fire (Day 1)

The fire broke over the ridge up the road at 4:30PM.

The Squirrel Creek Fire started on Saturday June 30th about five miles from the house.  Overnight it was estimated to have burned 70 acres.  By the afternoon of the July 1st it was over 2000 acres in size.  Around 4:15 PM the fire broke the ridgetop visible in this photo.  As the crow flies, it's eight tenths of a mile from the house to the ridge where you can see the flames.  Four hours later it burned down the slopes around the house.  The fire truck in the photo above is from the Centennial Valley Volunteer Fire Department.  Later in the evening, crews from the Forest Service took over the defense.  Scott Davis, the Albany County Fire Commissioner assured me that the house was defendable and said that although he could not give any guarantees, he was sure the house would be standing after the fire went through.  It was.

Firefighters arrive to defend the house.

The main factors contributing to the defensibility of the house are the metal roof, the stucco siding and the fact that there is a good buffer zone from the house itself to the sagebrush.   I mowed the tall native grass away the from the house.  We worked hard to grow that grass, but it'll come back. The wooden deck is no asset in a fire situation but it can be, and was, watered down to prevent it from burning.

 Randall and I evacuated the immediate area to watch from a safer distance after the trucks were in place around the house.  You can see him driving out in his VW camper in the bottom photo of the series.  We dropped his bus at Woods Landing and drove up to the observatory on top of Jelm.

View from Jelm observatory - house in lower left of photo.

By the evening, the fire had grown from 70 acres to around 2000 acres.

When wind started blowing the smoke eastward toward Jelm we couldn't see anymore (and could not breath) so we drove down the mountain only to find a rather frantic evacuation of Woods Landing underway. Randall furtively slipped into his VW bus intending to stay in Woods Landing overnight. He did end up sleeping the night there - after videotaping the nighttime defense of Woods Landing against the fire.  I moved to a high point along Hwy 230 which allowed me to look down the canyon toward the house. Unfortunately, from where I watched, I was not quite able to see the house itself.

Looking west from the bench above HWY 230.

The fire broke the ridge above the house and burned down the sage slopes above the house.  When the fire got into the steep draws filled with pines and aspens it flared up dramatically.

The two videos included here were taken almost a mile from the house. The one above was shot at about 7:40 PM and the one below was shot around 8 PM.

As the fire came over the rim the wind came up.  Until you've actually seen a fire run through old sagebrush it's hard to imagine how violently it can burn.  Sage is filled with volatile oils that are highly flammable. 

The fire burned down through a steep draw behind my house - 100' flames?

When the wind came up the fire roared across the flats toward Woods Landing - a wall of flames at least 30' high jumped HWY 230 and burned up to the Laramie River.  I could not see Woods Landing itself, just a red glow in that direction.  At the time, I was certain that Woods Landing itself had been lost, it wasn't.

Looking towards Woods Landing as the fire raced across the flats driven by high winds.

Eventually, I drove back up the road so I could see the house.  There were two trucks and a crew of twelve men there. By then the wind had died and the fire had settled down for the evening.  I realized the house was going to survive so I drove into town to spend the night with friends.