DAYTON — The Parkman Bar and Grill in Parkman, Wyoming, has been the main drop-off location for donations of food, water and money to help those harmed by the Elk Fire that's burning six miles northwest of Dayton.
The fire started on Friday and has continued to grow to over 6,000 acres in the rural area.
“It's hard when you're watching your livelihood go up,” Carolyn Cox, an employee at the bar, said on Monday. “Anything we can do to help, they're our friends, they're our family.”
The owner of the bar, Patricia Caywood, knew they had to help those trying to stop the flames in any way they could.
“We know everybody in the area and who's going to be impacted. And we saw it coming down the line and our hearts just went out to everybody,” Caywood said. “My husband works for the Forest Service so he's working on it. My brother, our friends, our neighbors, they're all, everybody's coming together to help try to control what situation is going on.”
Lisa Smith, who lives a few miles outside of Sheridan, dropped off drinks and snacks at the bar and also offered to help anyone in need with her horse trailer.
"I was just hoping to supply anything that I can, so it's just a small amount. We've got pickup and horse trailer if needed to head this direction to help evacuate," Smith said. “We were really thinking it was going the other direction, and then obviously the wind picked up and pushed it our direction.”
Just down the road from Parkman, 15-year-old Colter Schwend sat in the high school parking in Dayton with his three dogs. His parents sent him down to safety, as the flames start to near their home.
"I had to get my dogs and our four-wheelers off of the ranch before it came close. Right when I was around leaving, you couldn't really see the sky too much, only this way because of all the smoke. And you could see all the fresh flames coming up over the little hill from the fire spreading,” Schwend said.
His parents were still gathering important documents and getting their sprinklers on to try to protect their home and family ranch.
“I am very scared for the people who are fighting it and I'm very grateful for the community, because I've seen probably about all my buddies' dads go out there and fight it for them,” Schwend said.
