SUBLETTE COUNTY – What are the chances of two tractor-trailers catching fire on the same night – on the same Highway 191?

The chances are not “zero” because that happened on Tuesday, Nov. 28, with Sublette County Unified Fire volunteer firefighters responding to both.

The first call went out around 5 p.m. regarding a semi-trailer hauling potatoes with its rear tires on fire at the Duck Creek turnout off Highway 191 about 5 miles northwest of Pinedale, according to fire SCUF public information officer Mike Petty.

Other drivers alerted the semi driver, who pulled just off the road at the Duck Creek pullout, where bystanders used fire extinguishers to keep the initial fire from spreading until Pinedale Battalions 1 and Daniel 5 arrived to extinguish the fire with hoses, Petty said.

Wyoming Highway Patrol and responders stopped traffic in both directions. The potatoes and trailer itself weren’t damaged, only the truck’s tires. Per protocol, WHP impounded the trailer.

Engulfed

SCUF’s Battalions Pinedale 1, Big Piney-Marbleton 2 and Boulder 4 were dispatched again at 6:20 p.m. for a second truck that was completely engulfed in flames at the Sand Draw Industrial Park south of Boulder.

When SCUF arrived, the truck had been disconnected from the trailer but it was close to multiple other truck-trailers that had hauled produced water. Due to the potential of the fire spreading to them, SCUF called out several battalions, according to Petty.

“The fire was contained to the single truck without damage to the other trucks close by even with the closest fire station being 10 miles from the scene,” he said.

The Wyoming State Fire Marshal’s Office will assist with the investigation into the cause of the fire due to the amount of equipment that could have been lost.