Wyoming
Fire crews on Elk Fire in Wyoming brace for strong winds
Update 12:55 p.m. Friday
The Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office has announced updates to evacuation orders and road closures.
From the Sheridan County Government Facebook page:
UPDATE UPDATE
Ready Set Go area and New Road Closures just announced
Working with the team managing the Elk Fire, the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office has changed the evacuation levels in a few areas and added some new areas. Areas that are now in “Go” or “Set” will see law enforcement presence and will be contact by law enforcement.
New areas in “Go” include:
Eaton’s Ranch
New areas in “Set” include:
West of Beckton Road from Dayton, continuing south to the intersection of Beckton Road and Big Goose Road. This also includes the area west of Rapid Creek Road.
New area in “Ready”:
The area west of Bear Gulch Trail to Big Horn Road to Beaver Creek Road to Owl Creek Road and then directly north to Soldier Creek Road and then west to Beckton Road.
New road closures, with access only to locals:
Beckton Hall Road at the intersection with Big Goose Road
Bighorn Road at intersection of Beaver Creek Road
Big Goose is closed at the intersection with Beckton Road
Stay vigilant and respect law enforcement as they work the area.
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Original Report
Fire crews in Wyoming battling the Elk Fire in the Bighorn National Forest are bracing for strong winds.
Fire officials said in a Friday morning update the wildfire is now estimated at 51,115 acres with 0% containment. The fire started by lightning on Sept. 27 and has caused numerous road and school closures and evacuations.
There are currently 528 personnel assigned to the fire, which is being managed by Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team 3.
‘Families in crisis’: Dayton remains on edge as Elk Fire burns in Wyoming
Here’s the full text of the Friday morning update:
Key Messages: A Red Flag Warning has been issued by the National Weather Service for Friday at noon until Saturday at 6:00 p.m. The forecast includes temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s and relative humidity in the teens. Winds are forecast to shift from the southeast to southwest and west during the day, gusting up to 30pmh in the afternoon. Overnight tonight, the winds are expected to shift to be out of the northwest and gusting up to 50mph; this is associated with the passage of a cold front. With this anticipated hot, windy weather, it is likely that there will be an increase to the size of the fire.
With an anticipated increase in fire activity due to critical fire weather today through Saturday, please keep all county and local roads clear. If you stop to look, you could stop first responders.
Current Situation: After having previously used a bulldozer to create a fireline, fire crews utilized an Unmanned Aircraft System to implement a successful burnout operation west of the Horseshoe Subdivision yesterday. By intentionally placing fire on the ground between the fireline and the main fire, fire managers were able control the rate at which the vegetation was burned under calmer conditions. This tactic was utilized to lessen the chance of fire advancing upon structures in the future. Overnight, crews continued burning vegetation to increase the distance between structures and the southeast side of the main fire.
Today, crews will continue preparing structures to be defensible from fire in the Little Bighorn Canyon. Along the eastern side of the fire, crews will continue to extinguish areas of heat along established firelines. This same work will be done in the vicinity of yesterday’s burning operation. Around the perimeter of the fire, crews will use a variety of structure preparation techniques, including the removal of vegetation near structures, constructing fireline, and placing hose and sprinklers where possible.
Firefighter and public safety remain the top priority. The tactics used to suppress the fire will be determined by the terrain, fire and weather conditions, and medical response time with a focus on only implementing plans and tactics that have a high probability of success.
Closures and Evacuations: In advance of the forecast weather, additional evacuation levels were added yesterday afternoon by the Sheridan County Sheriff; all previous evacuation levels remain in place. Please contact the Sheridan County Sheriff’s Office at 307-672-3455 or Sheridan County Emergency Management at 307-752-2174 for more information.
US Highway 14 remains closed from Dayton to Burgess Junction. For additional road closures, please visit the Sheridan County Emergency Management website at Sheridan County (sheridancountywy.gov).
ELK FIRE INFORMATION
Fire Information Phoneline: 307-303-7642
Time: 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bighornnf
Email: 2024.elkfire@firenet.gov
InciWeb: http://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident…/wybhf-elk-fire-2024
RELATED Q2 COVERAGE
Elk Fire in Wyoming reported at nearly 50,000 acres
New evacuations ordered at Elk Fire in Wyoming
Elk Fire at 32,000 acres, Dayton, Wyoming residents remain cautious
Elk Fire in Wyoming estimated at more than 25,000 acres
CASPER, Wyo. — High school athletics in Wyoming could see some drastic changes in the coming years following legislative changes to the state’s education budget, the Wyoming High School Activities Association recently announced in a statement.
According to the WHSAA, Wyoming school districts are facing a projected $3.9 million shortfall in activities funding, forcing officials to consider significant cuts to high school sports and extracurricular programs.
The WHSAA shared details regarding a new “silo” funding model implemented by the Legislature, stating that the recalibrated block grant model reduced funding for student activities and extra-duty responsibilities from $46.3 million to $42.4 million, an approximately 8.4% decrease statewide.
WHSAA Commissioner Trevor Wilson said the restructuring also restricts district access to an additional $76.2 million in previously flexible funding.
“A significant portion of the [April 28 WHSAA Board of Directors] meeting was dedicated to discussing the projected funding shortfall,” Wilson wrote.
The WHSAA is weighing several strategies to address rising costs with fewer resources. Proposed changes include eliminating regional tournaments and reducing the number of teams qualifying for state events from eight to four; limiting wrestling to two classes and restricting track and field state participants to the top 16 marks; making cuts to soccer, indoor track and field, Nordic and Alpine skiing, swimming and diving, spring golf and tennis; and reducing in-person speech and debate events by half and centrally locating All-State Music events to minimize travel. The board also recommended increasing gate admission or implementing student participation fees to offset costs.
While the WHSAA release states that no plans have been finalized and the various changes are currently just possibilities, Natrona County School District 1 Board of Trustees member Mary Schmidt criticized the WHSAA’s handling of the news at Monday’s board meeting.
“I take some issues with this, [including] the sheer fact that we as Board of Trustees members have not talked about that at all,” Schmidt said. “It is not our intent and it has not been brought to us to cut our athletics or activities budget for the upcoming school year. … I take issue with them picking sports and getting the community upset and ginning them up to be upset that this is all going to be cut when that hasn’t been discussed.”
Later in the meeting, Superintendent Angela Hensley clarified that Natrona County School District 1’s athletics and activities budget saw a reduction of roughly $550,000 in the coming year’s budget, but said the local school district does not plan to cut any sports.
“Thank you, Trustee Schmidt, for saying this, because I think people are wondering — we are not planning to cut athletics and activities for next year,” Hensley said. “We do have to take a look at our entire budget as we have talked about, as we learn more about these new rules that come in.”
Related
Republished with permission from Wyoming News Now, a TV news outlet covering the Cheyenne and Casper areas.
Cheyenne City Council has introduced a temporary moratorium, or pause, on new data center construction.
“The end goal is to actually have regulations in place, to have really heavy public involvement with this with data centers,” said Councilman Mark Moody.
The proposed ordinance is not a permanent ban on data centers and would not affect data centers currently under construction.
Councilman Moody says this is a bipartisan issue.
“I just want to make this clear, I’m not against data centers. We do need them from a national security perspective,” he said.
He said there needs to be more public input and regulations regarding data centers in Cheyenne.
The ordinance would require city staff to study data center impacts such as electricity usage, electricity tariffs, closed-loop cooling systems, groundwater impacts, agricultural impacts, and land value.
Cheyenne LEADS, the economic development corporation for Cheyenne and Laramie County, reported in November 2025 that there are 12 operational data centers in Wyoming, five under construction and plans for 43 data centers announced across the state.
“There needs to be more public input with this, and also to see how many we can sustain here in this community, cause there are talks of 43, and then another day 70. How many can we sustain here?” said Councilman Moody.
The proposed moratorium will now go to the Public Services Committee on Monday, May 18 at noon in the Municipal Building.
Sheridan will play in the North Regional Tournament at Gillette, while the South Regional Tournament will be played at Rock Springs.
North Regional Tournament at Gillette:
Checking record vs. highest team in the quadrant not involved in the tie, Thunder Basin gets the #1 Northeast seed over Campbell County, because the Lady Bolts went 3-1 vs. Sheridan, whereas the Lady Camels went 2-2.
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 NE) Thunder Basin vs. (#4 NW) Jackson – 11am
(#2 NW) Natrona County vs. (#3 NE) Sheridan – 11am
(#2 NE) Campbell County vs. (#3 NW) Kelly Walsh – 1pm
(#1 NW) Cody vs. (#4 NE) Worland – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Thunder Basin/Jackson winner vs. Natrona County/Sheridan winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh winner vs. Cody/Worland winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Thunder Basin/Jackson loser vs. Natrona County/Sheridan loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Campbell County/Kelly Walsh loser vs. Cody/Worland loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
South Regional Tournament at Rock Springs:
Friday, May 15th:
(#1 SW) Laramie vs. (#4 SE) Torrington – 11am
(#2 SE) Cheyenne East vs. (#3 SW) Green River – 11am
(#2 SW) Rock Springs vs. (#3 SE) Wheatland – 1pm
(#1 SE) Cheyenne Central vs. (#4 SW) Cheyenne South – 1pm
Semi-Finals:
Laramie/Torrington winner vs. Cheyenne East/Green River winner – 3pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Rock Springs/Wheatland winner vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South winner – 5pm Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
Consolation Round:
Laramie/Torrington loser vs. Cheyenne East/Green River loser – 3pm LOSER OUT!
Rock Springs/Wheatland loser vs. Cheyenne Central/Cheyenne South loser – 5pm LOSER OUT!
Saturday, May 16th:
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
TBA vs. TBA – 10am LOSER OUT! Winner qualifies for the state tournament.
2 10am winners vs. each other – 1pm 3rd Place
TBA vs. TBA – 1pm 1st Place
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