According to an Associated Press release, the Sawmill Canyon Fire in 90 percent contained.
The Sawmill Canyon Fire, which erupted on July 14, was caused by a Colorado National Guard unit training with explosives. started a wildfire that has scarred about 22 square miles in southeast Wyoming, according to a preliminary investigation released Thursday by the Wyoming Military Department.
The Sawmill Canyon Fire erupted July 14 on the Wyoming National Guard’s Camp Guernsey training area as the Colorado engineer unit conducted training with explosives, including TNT and dynamite, on a demolition range, department spokeswoman Deidre Forster said.
The unit was practicing clearing obstacles from roads by using explosives, she said.
“We deeply regret that military training caused this fire, but we are grateful that to this point no lives and no structures or livestock have been lost,” Maj. Gen. Luke Reiner, Wyoming’s adjutant general, said in a news release.
Such exercises are routinely accompanied by Camp Guernsey firefighters, Forster said, but she had no details on why the fire still got out of hand.
Forster said Guard policies prohibit such training when weather conditions are favorable for wildfires.
According to the National Weather Service, there were no warnings for extreme fire conditions issued for southeast Wyoming that day.
Many areas of Wyoming are under fire restrictions that include bans on open fires and fireworks because of drought conditions.
No structures have been lost and no one has been hurt in the Sawmill Canyon Fire. But the fire forced the state to evacuate and close the east side of nearby Glendo State Park. The park’s west side and its Glendo Reservoir remained open, and the entire park, which is popular with boaters and campers, reopened on Thursday, with the fire 60 percent contained. Some firefighting crews were to be released from the fire Thursday.
Reiner said the Wyoming National Guard has requested an independent investigation by an Air Force officer.
Besides the Wyoming Guard, Camp Guernsey has been used by the U.S. and international military units as well as various other state, federal and local government agencies that need weapons and explosives training.
About 160 Colorado Guard members participated in the training exercise that ran Friday through Sunday at the site 100 miles north of Cheyenne, Deidre said.Gill said the fires have stretched resources, but firefighters have been able to contain the fires
