The rate of spread of the Mullen Fire near the Wyoming-Colorado state line southwest of Laramie slowed considerably Sunday, but it still grew by more than 13% to 77,950 acres or 122-square miles.
The blaze on the Medicine Bow National Forest had more than doubled in size on Saturday, thanks to strong winds gusting to 50 mph.
Incident Commander Jared Hohn says there’s still no information on structures lost because crews haven’t been able to get into previously evacuated areas.
As of 5:00 Sunday evening, there were 525 personnel on the fire. Additional firefighters from multiple Wyoming departments arrived yesterday while aerial support will continue as weather conditions allow.
Hohn says much colder weather with higher humidity and scattered snow showers helped yesterday, but winds continued to gust up to 35 mph and the humidity is expected to drop back into the low 20% range – leaving a high potential for spread.
The Mullen Fire was reported in the Savage Run Wilderness on Sept 17. It’s burning in extremely rugged terrain with dense vegetation and beetle-killed deadfall timber.