DAYTON, Wyo. — As rain fell in Sheridan County on Thursday,the cooler temperatures and precipitation were a welcome relief for many as the Elk Fire has been burning in the county for weeks.
“This morning, my whole place is saturated with water already. So, I know it's saved now,” Jack Russell, who lives in a part of the burned canyon, said on Thursday.
Dayton residents on the northeast side of the fire have been removed from evacuation status.
"It's relieved a little anxiety that we had built up for the last few weeks," Dayton resident Keith Reichert said. “The rain and the forecasted snow has just been a blessing to have.”
One of the Elk Fire incident meteorologists, Bruno Rodriguez, said the weather is welcome.
“One of the things that have been really driving this fire activity has been winds, lack of cloud cover, dry conditions, harsh fuels. So obviously the precipitation is certainly going to help to do things in the near term over the next several days and weeks,” Rodriguez said. “Weather plays a critical factor in a lot of the decisions that the team makes, whether it be... evacuations, or the kind of strategies and tactics that are utilized in the field."
Rodriguez said going forward, the area is expected to go back to seasonal conditions.
“Seeing that moisture come in this morning after briefing and seeing some of that certainly kind of decrease some of our concerns of the area,” Sheridan County Sheriff Levi Dominguez said. “We were able to also reduce the Story community from a ready status to a no status.”
The weather change does not mean the end of the fight, but it's been a nice relief. Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., owners along Red Grade will be able to access their cabins.
“I don't want to give anybody any false sense of security. A lot of fire crews still in the area are going to be monitoring the fire lines, monitoring the southeastern portion of the fire along with the northwest portion of the fire to ensure that, you know, it's safe for folks," Dominguez said.
