SCUF responds to separate fires

Brady Oltmans, boltmans@pinedaleroundup.com
Posted 4/8/21

Sublette County Unified Fire units responded to two significant fires, both taking place in the early hours of the morning, three days apart within the county.

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SCUF responds to separate fires

Posted

SUBLETTE COUNTY – Sublette County Unified Fire units responded to two significant fires, both taking place in the early hours of the morning, three days apart within the county.

First, at approximately 3:40 a.m. on April 2, Stations 1, 2, 3 and 5 responded to a call of a potential chimney fire at a residence on Chippewaugh Lane at Hoback Ranches.

Local fire fighters living in the area were aware the residence could only be reached by snow machine or tracked off-road vehicles and were first on the scene. SCUF battalions staged nearby assisted Sublette County EMS units to establish a safe area to administer care.

Sublette County Emergency Management, Search and Rescue, and Road and Bridge departments all assisted by providing snow machines and working to clear the road of snow and ice.

Two of the six building occupants were transported to St. John’s in Jackson for treatment and observation resulting from smoke inhalation but were released shortly after admission. No injuries were reported among responders.

In a release from SCUF Battalion 2 Chief and public information officer Mike Petty, the cause for that fire was an accidental electrical fire originating within a wall of the home. The fire spread through the wall to the rest of the home, causing heavy smoke conditions that set off the smoke detector system that ultimately alerted the occupants to the fire. The home and an adjacent outbuilding were ultimately lost to the fire.

Battalions also responded at approximately 3:30 a.m. to a structure fire in progress at 601 Binning Ranch Road in greater Pinedale.

Multiple battalions assisted and efforts included establishing a water supply shuttle operation because of the property’s distance from hydrants. An on-duty Sublette County Sheriff’s Office deputy reported the fire upon seeing the glow from a distance.

The fire occurred in an unoccupied bunkhouse and, due to preventative measures taken from responding battalions, the fire was contained to the bunkhouse’s perimeter.

No cause of that fire had been determined by the time of Sublette County Unified Fire’s release.