DOUGLAS, Wyo. — The La Bonte Fire, located south of Douglas, is now roughly 72% contained as it continues to burn across 3,484 acres.
Recently, Wyoming Type 3 Incident Management Team 6 transferred command of the wildfire to a local Bureau of Land Management High Plains District Type 3 Incident Commander.
As containment increases and mop-up activities continue over the next few days, fire managers will gradually downsize the number of personnel assigned to the fire before transferring command to county resources.
“Mopping up” describes the process of extinguishing or removing burning materials near control lines down to the mineral soil, felling fire-damaged trees and cooling ash pits to make a fire line less likely to escape or to reduce residual smoke.
On Thursday, crews continued to mop up and hold areas on the south, east and north sides of the fire, with a focus on improving direct fire line in the rugged terrain on the blaze’s western flank. Crews also continued to make significant progress increasing containment.
Firefighters will continue to increase containment in addition to patrol and mop-up efforts.
