Fire at Badger Creek

U.S. Forest Service and Albany County fire personnel responded to a wildfire Sunday afternoon in the southern Snowy Range, Medicine Bow National Forest, which forced evacuations from multiple locations due to rapid growth.

As of Sunday, 9 p.m. the Badger Creek Fire was roughly estimated at 100 acres and there is no containment.

The cause of the fire is unknown and its’ origin is near Forest Road 501, and between Badger Creek and the North Fork of Pelton Creek. That location is 2 miles north of the Wyoming/Colorado state line. Multiple communities and private property in-holdings are within a five-mile radius of the fire.

Albany County officials have issued evacuation orders for the communities of Mountain Home, Wold Tract and WyoColo. Pre-evacuation orders are in place for the communities of Foxborough, Foxpark, and Miller Lake. It is advised by the Forest Service that all dispersed campers near the fire area relocate to other areas of the Forest.

The overall strategy of fire personnel is for full suppression of the Badger Creek Fire, by engaging in locations with the highest probability of success. On Sunday, efforts were focused on evacuation, public safety, and fire assessment.

The fire is burning in lodgepole pine and in an area of the forest that was heavily impacted by the mountain pine beetle epidemic.

Evacuees are being asked by county officials to check in at the Harmony School off of Wyoming Highway 230.

The weather forecast is calling for hot, dry conditions over the next few days with temperatures in the 70s and west winds that could be gusty.

The Badger Creek Fire is approximately 10 miles south of the 2017 Keystone Fire, which burned 2,500 acres.

Badger Creek Fire information and updates will be provided by the U.S. Forest Service on Twitter, @FS_MBRTB, and on InciWeb, https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5836/.

UPDATE: As of Monday night, the fire had crossed WYO 230 causing the road to be closed from Woods Landing to the Colorado State Line. A combination of wind and dry conditions propelled the fire eastward and to increase in size to 2,300 acres.