Wyoming
Wandering hunters stumble on plane crash, save pilot from inferno in Wyoming woods
A pair of hunters went from wandering in the wrong direction through the Wyoming wilderness to pulling an injured pilot out of a raging inferno after his tiny plane crashed Sunday morning.
The two men, who were coincidentally expertly trained to rescue the wounded pilot, had suffered a series of setbacks during their hunting trip — including heading the wrong way while avoiding grizzly bears — that put them in the right place to see and respond to the fiery crash, according to a report.
Steve Atencio, a Black Hawk pilot for the Wyoming Army Guard and former firefighter, and JR Larsen, an ex-athletic trainer, heard a loud bang at around 10:45 a.m. and rushed into action in the town of Meeteetse.
After searching around the area, they told Cowboy State Daily they spotted thick smoke rising from the trees and called for help.
Atencio quickly deployed a Garmin inReach device to send out an SOS as neither man had cell service. While attempting to get in touch with emergency agencies, the pair trekked toward the crash site carrying around 40 pounds of equipment each in case they needed it.
“We were both blasting through the trees as fast as we could,” Atencio told the newspaper.
As Atencio was working with first responders who finally received his dire message, Larsen ran slightly ahead down a muddy hill, tripping a few times, as he tried to reach the source of the smoke as quickly as possible.
When the pair reached the downed plane, Larsen reportedly shouted, “Is anybody there?”
The pilot responded and called out for help as he was lying face down near the fire with his hands under his head. He told the hunters he believed his back was broken, though his arms and legs were still moving.
The pilot also told Larsen he believed his passenger, later identified as 78-year-old Mary Lou Sanderson, was dead.
“That’s when it started to hit home how serious this was,” Larsen told Cowboy State Daily.
As the fire edged toward the pilot and burning branches began to fall around them, both Larsen and Atencio went to great length to tug the pilot to safety.
They said they first placed a tarp under his body, but it ripped. They then turned Atencio’s pack frame into a makeshift harness and strapped it onto the pilot to carry him away, the outlet reported.
As they pulled the man through thick greenery, the pair also had to be careful with the severe burns the pilot suffered.
At one point, the pilot reportedly told them, “Leave me here,” but the rescuers were able to get him to a safe spot.
Eventually, a rescue helicopter landed about 75 yards from the crash site with Atencio’s guidance and transported the pilot to a hospital in Montana where he is currently receiving treatment, according to the news outlet.
His passenger was confirmed dead.
For the hunters, it almost felt like fate that they were in the right place at the right time to rescue the pilot, they told the local paper.
“Nothing about where we were headed was part of the plane,” Larsen told Cowboy State Daily. “For whatever reason, that’s where we were put.”
Wyoming
Pearl Fire near Colorado-Wyoming border was human caused, Larimer County sheriff says
The Pearl Fire that forced evacuations in Larimer County on Monday near the Colorado-Wyoming border was human caused. That’s according to Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen, who said an investigation is ongoing to determine whether it was accidentally set or not.
Gov. Jared Polis declared a disaster emergency due to the wildfire.
The fire has burned 138 acres. It is burning northwest of Red Feather Lakes in the Crystal Lakes area. It’s north of Lake Erie.
All residents of Crystal Lakes north of Black Mountain to the state line are under mandatory evacuations. That now includes areas west of Red Feather Lakes south to Highway 14 and north to the Wyoming border. More than 2,000 evacuation notices went out to devices signed up for alerts in the region.
An overnight evacuation shelter opened at Cache La Poudre Middle School in Laporte.
Feyen told CBS Colorado that wind conditions were favorable on Monday because they were pushing the flames towards national forest land and away from structures on the eastern side of the fire. Several dozen ground personnel arrived to fight the fire during the day and air resources helped in the firefight from the sky.
As of Monday evening, there were no reports of injuries.
So far there’s no containment on the fire.
Wyoming
Pre-Evacuation Order Issued For Pearl Fire In Wyoming
Albany County Emergency Management says a pre-evacuation order has been issued for the Pearl Fire in Wyoming.
The blaze has already prompted evacuations in Larimer County, Colorado.
Read The Order
The agency posted the following on it’s Facebook page;
PRE-EVACUATION FOR PEARL FIRE
FROM THE WYOMING/COLORADO STATE LINE ON THE SOUTH TO SPORTSMANS LAKE ROAD ON THE NORTH, ASHBY LOOP ON THE WEST TO HWY 287 ON THE EAST
Please make preparations to evacuate the area in the event that an Evacuation Order is issued. You do not need to leave at this time, but should begin preparing to leave with your household members, essential belongings, pets and livestock.
US Forest Service Public Lands Day
Get out your gloves and help the great outdoors!
Gallery Credit: Nicole Sherwood
Wyoming
How Kalani Sitake and his BYU players felt about the environment at Wyoming
LARAMIE, Wyo. — Wyoming fans may dislike BYU, but Cougars quarterback Jake Retzlaff is a newly-minted fan of their town.
Following his three touchdown performance against the Cowboys Saturday night, Retzlaff offered some kind words regarding his first trip to Laramie.
“It was a super fun place to play. I liked the stadium and the environment,” Retzlaff told reporters postgame. “… Laramie grew on me a little bit this weekend.”
BYU had not visited War Memorial Stadium in 15 years prior to Saturday, where Kalani Sitake’s crew handily defeated Wyoming 34-14 to move to 3-0 on the young season.
The reappearance of a longtime rival proved compelling for Cowboy supporters, who came out in droves for the matchup and made their disdain of the Cougars perfectly clear.
At one point in the second half, CBS Sports Network had to mute its stadium crowd microphones due to vulgar chants directed at BYU being heard on-air.
Such hospitality — or lack thereof — is not new for Wyoming when it comes to the Cougars. The rivalry once burned “really, really hot,” with Cowboy fans tearing down goal posts on multiple occasions upon toppling their foe from Provo.
Sitake didn’t seem to be bothered by the locals’ loud opposition. In fact, he commended it.
“It was a lot of fun. I’m glad that our players were able to be here in this environment,” BYU’s head coach said after the game. “We knew it was going to be energetic. When people (refer to Laramie as) ‘hostile,’ there are amazing Wyoming fans that were not hostile at all, they were kind.
“Our interaction with the Wyoming fans was awesome. They just love their team so much,” Sitake continued. “They should be proud of their team … they don’t quit, they’re tough kids and it wasn’t easy by any means for us to get this win.”
Of course, the worst of the jeering didn’t last long on Saturday. The Cougars let their play on the field do the talking, thoroughly besting the winless Cowboys and quickly removing the crowd factor from the equation.
“I loved the atmosphere. They were wild and it was cool,” BYU wide receiver Chase Roberts told BYUtv’s Spencer Linton in a postgame interview.
“I guess when you start scoring points on them they start to quiet down a bit, so it was nice to hear the loud noises quiet down a bit after we made some plays.”
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