The Ryan Fire, burning on the Colorado-Wyoming state line, spread rapidly over the weekend and is now 19,328 acres.
The fire was at about 3,000 acres Friday, but little humidity and highly flammable, beetle-killed lodgepole pine helped the fire grow exponentially, according to a news release. The fire is burning northeast and is mostly in Wyoming.
Sunday night rain helped firefighters maintain the blaze and limited fire behavior is expected early this week. But warmer and drier conditions are forecasted later in the week.
#RyanFire grows to 19,328 acres on September 23. These images shows the active fire behavior throughout the day.
Fire crews on the southern end of the fire were protecting structures in the Colorado community of Pearl. The Carbon County Sheriff’s Office placed an evacuation order for the Skyline community in Wyoming Sunday. Laramie and Cheyenne were also impacted by smoke from the fire, the news release said.
Portions of Routt and Medicine Bow National Forests were closed, which has impacted hunters in Colorado and Wyoming. The Wyoming Fish and Game Department will offer refunds to those with a Limited Quota Deer Hunt Area 81 license.
The fire, which started Sept. 15, was at zero containment as of Monday with 233 people working on it.
