House Draw Fire affects dozens of ranches in Powder River Basin

At least a dozen ranches in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin were affected by last week’s House Draw Fire, one of multiple active fires in the region.

Andy and Heidi Stevens lost their fall and much of their winter feed ground in what has been estimated as a 175,000-acre fire about a week ago. Three fires were started Aug. 21 by lightning and high winds and quickly combined it became a force he said they couldn’t begin to stop. The first 5,000 acres, he said, were lost in 40 minutes. Luckily, the William Long Ranch, a commercial cow operation, is not contiguous and spread over Johnson, Sheridan, and Washakie counties, so not all was lost.

“Last year we had a phenomenal year up here,” he said. “One of the best recorded moisture years on record so we had a lot of residual feed from last year and we were just coming out of the 2021 drought and just getting our feet back on the ground. We had some residual feed and some real timely rains this spring. We had a dry winter but with those timely rains we grew some good spring feed and stuff was cured out. There was a lot of fuel for this fire. It was just a perfect storm.”

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Though ranchers were quick to respond, he said they lost control of the fire line and at that point, began cutting fences and pushing pairs out of the path of the fire and evacuating people and stock. One pasture of bulls was pushed back onto blackened ground to safety. Air support arrived about an hour into the fight.

“In 175,000 acres, no homes were lost — there were a few structures lost, but no homes — and no loss of life and no injuries that I’m aware of,” he said.

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The prairie dogs, he joked, survived just fine.

LIVESTOCK AND WILDLIFE IMPACTED

The injuries to cattle as far as dust pneumonia and the like, he said, will present in the coming weeks but they did prevent deaths to stock, including a performance horse operation that was evacuated literally through the flames.

“When you see a grasshopper that’s on fire and moving 100-feet at a time and starting another fire, it was crazy,” he said. “I mean, I hope to never see anything like that in my lifetime again.”

Though few cattle and no houses were lost in this fire, wildlife was affected. That loss will be slower to recover and also economically devastating to the area. Stevens said he has already had to call hunters scheduled to arrive to hunt antelope and deer in the coming days to cancel their hunts. Stevens said numerous deer and elk carcasses have been found, which is a major hit to local hunters, outfitters and ranchers like Stevens, who diversify their income by outfitting hunts on their ranch.

“The hunting is going to be affected just as much as ranching,” he said. “That’s a huge revenue stream for the ranch and there’s numerous outfitters out here running into the same loss of income, and then there’s the trickle down into town whether it’s grocery stores or motels or sporting goods stores. They’re the part of this deal that’s not being talked about.”

RECOVERY WILL HAPPEN

Stevens said the grass will grow back and fences can be mended, but when the ranching and wildlife communities suffer, so do local economies.

Pairs will be brought down for the fall around the first of October, he said, and there are hundreds of miles of fence to rebuild before they begin feeding hay, which they expect to do all fall and winter.

Heidi (Long) Stevens, an accomplished photographer, documented the fire and took one photo that was particularly striking of Andy and their daughter, Paisley, standing on scorched ground.

“Somebody said I need to set a reminder in my phone to go take the same photo in the same place in a year,” she said. “I think we’re going to remember these days. This is when the real work begins.”

She said looking at the miles of fence to be repaired, it’s easy to become overwhelmed at the tasks that are ahead in what is already an incredibly busy season. She said the amount of support received from the agriculture community around the country has been humbling and a testament to the quality and generosity of the people. More information on how help can best be offered is available at https://www.johnsoncountyfirerelieffund.com.