Southern Wyoming, Northern Colorado Fire Now 2,470 Acres in Size
The wildfire burning on both sides of the Wyoming/Colorado border was estimated at 2,470 acres in size Tuesday morning with no containment.
Dubbed the Ryan Fire, it is now being managed by Rocky Mountain Team Black, a Type II incident management team which has also recently handled the Britania Mountain Fire near Wheatland and the Badger Creek Fire southwest of Laramie.
The Ryan Fire is located 27 miles northwest of Walden, Colorado, on the Routt National Forest within Colorado's Jackson County and the Medicine Bow National Forest within Carbon County, Wyoming.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Fire managers say that increased cloud cover and lighter winds helped minimize growth of the blaze on Monday. Scattered showers fell on portions of the fire Monday afternoon.
Rocky Mountain Team Black assumed command of the fire at 7 a.m. Tuesday. Additional firefighting resources continue to arrive; meanwhile, fire managers are assessing the values at risk and working on a plan of action.
The fire is burning in a vast area of beetle-killed lodgepole pine, which presents an "exceptional risk" to firefighters. As such, suppression actions will be prioritized.
For the next several days, fire managers expect warm, dry weather conditions. Tuesday was expected to bring temperatures in the 70s with a minimum relative humidity value of 22 percent. Winds were expected from the southwest at nine to 15 mph and gusts to 25 mph.
National Forest lands around the fire are under an area closure in order to protect the public and firefighters alike. That closure is on parts of the Routt and Medicine Bow National Forests, primarily affecting hunters in Colorado's game management unit 161 as well as Wyoming's elk area 13 and deer area 81.