WYOMING – A former Jackson fire chief was assigned yesterday to mopping up a stubborn wildfire in southeast Wyoming that has been burning for more than a month.
Willy Watsabaugh is Incident Commander for the SW Wyoming Type 3 Incident Management Team 1. That team has assumed command of the Badger Creek Fire two miles northwest of Mountain Home, Wyo. The fire was first discovered June 10 and has since grown to 21,310 acres with 90% containment.
Watsabaugh will help firefighters transition management of the blaze over to local agencies. He retired as Jackson Hole Fire/EMS Chief in late 2016 after nearly 40 years with the department.
A Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team has been working on the Badger Creek Fire. BAER assessment teams are staffed by specially trained professionals that evaluate the burn area. Two of the main areas being evaluated on the Badger Creek Fire are watershed conditions and soil burn severity to determine the level of potential risks to human life, safety, property, natural and cultural-heritage resources.
The BAER team presents their finding and works with federal, state and local cooperators to determine if there are appropriate and effective emergency stabilization measures that can be implemented in a timely manner to reduce unacceptable risks from potential flooding and debris flow threats.
Full containment is expected sometime this week. Currently 144 are assigned to the incident.
