A woman was lifeflighted

early Thursday after a fire devastated

the single-family home at 121 N.

Ashley Ave. in Pinedale. Its causes and

the identity of a deceased man trapped inside

are still under investigation.

Tricia Gunderson, 57, of Pinedale, was

transported by ambulance to the Pinedale

Medical Clinic with acute smoke inhalation

and burns and then flown to Eastern

Idaho Regional Medical Center, according

to the Sublette County Sheriff’s Office.

She was moved to another hospital

Thursday; her condition is unknown.

The fire was reported Wednesday at

10:50 p.m. by neighbor Channing Stockman,

who told the Roundup he was in

his apartment playing his guitar when

he smelled smoke and heard a woman

screaming. He went to the house, where

he could see flames and Gunderson inside

the house screaming, “Get out, get out.”

He helped her off the porch and called

911. Stockman said the woman believed a

man was still inside the house but the fire

engulfed the interior so he did not go in.

Sublette County Unified Fire responded

with 10 apparatus and 32 firefighters; a

crew tried to enter and search the home

but was pushed back by heavy smoke and

flames. Eventually they found a deceased

man inside who was not positively identified

Thursday at press time.

Noxious smoke billowed from the

home and drifted through the west side

of town for hours after firefighters arrived

and knocked down flames that bystanders

said burst up as high as trees around

the property. Firefighters hosed down the

house from the side and back as flames

flickered occasionally in the attic and edge

of the roof.

Wyoming Highway Patrol Trooper

Landon Call said he was first to arrive on

the scene, four or five minutes after Stockman’s

911 call to dispatch, and found the

house engulfed in flames.

Very shortly, the massive emergency

response team arrived of firefighters,

Emergency Medical Services and deputies,

as well as ambulances, engines and

patrol vehicles flashing blue and red lights

around the home.

Patricia Knudsen, of Rock Springs,

owns the property according to county

land records.

Thursday, firefighters and detectives

remained on the scene awaiting the arrival

of fire investigators from the Wyoming

Fire Marshal’s Office. An autopsy

is scheduled for the unidentified man and

investigators continue to search for the

cause of the fire.