2025 Wyoming wildfires
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| 2025 Wyoming wildfires | |
|---|---|
 Aerial view of the Vees Fire on July 27 | |
| Season | |
← 2024 |
A series of wildfires burned throughout the U.S. state of Wyoming during 2025.
"Wildfire season" in Wyoming typically occurs between June and September, but wildfires can occur as early as April and late as December. Peak time of fire season is normally in July and August. Wildfires in Wyoming are triggered by a dry climate, drought, grasses die and dry out, and times when dry thunderstorms are more common.[1] Humidity levels, dryness of fuel, wind, and temperature also play a crucial role. Forests that have not had wildfires in recent years have more fire fuel, and trees killed by disease and insect infestation quickly dry up and become a prime fuel for wildfires.[2]
Summary
In mid-August, lightning sparked almost twenty wildfires in the Bighorn Basin,[3] including the Red Canyon, Spring Creek, and Sleeper Ranch fires. The Red Canyon Fire has prompted evacuations east of the Wind River Canyon, though no evacuations have been issued from the other fires.[4][5] Western Wyoming was under a red flag warning, due to very dry and windy conditions, but the fires are not spreading towards highways or towns.[6] While the fires are driven by the dry and windy conditions, they are fueled by the invasive weed, cheatgrass. The area east of Thermopolis on the side of U.S. Route 20 is covered in cheatgrass, which is fueling the Red Canyon Fire and is damaging the native plants.[7]
List of wildfires
The following is a list of fires that burned more than 1,000 acres (400 ha), or produced significant structural damage or casualties.
| Name | County | Acres | Start date | Containment date[a] | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Horse | Sublette | 2,802 | June 13 | July 25 | Lightning-caused. Burned in the Big Piney Range District. | [9] |
| Taylor Draw | Carbon | 1,247 | June 29 | July 3 | Unknown cause. Burned near Hanna. | [10] |
| Vees | Washakie | 5,245 | July 26 | August 16 | Lightning-caused. Burned on BLM lands. | [11][12][13] |
| Spring Creek | Washakie | 3,594 | August 13 | September 6 | Lightning-caused. Burned 30 miles (48 km) east of Worland. | [14][15][3] |
| Red Canyon | Hot Springs | 124,709 | August 13 | September 24 | Lightning-caused. Burning east of Wind River Canyon and prompted evacuations. | [16][5][17][18] |
| Sleeper Ranch | Park | 20,657 | August 14 | September 11 | Lightning-caused. Burned on BLM Worland lands. | [19][20][3] |
| Dollar Lake | Sublette | 19,467 | August 21 | October 6 | Lightning-caused. Burned 32 miles (51 km) north of Pinedale. | [21] |
| Willow Creek | Lincoln | 4,066 | August 22 | September 25 | Unknown cause. Burned 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Smoot and prompted evacuations. Closed U.S. Route 87. | [22][23] |
