PLATTE COUNTY – The smell of smoke, along with visible plumes, have drifted across the county frequently the last couple months, and there’s a reason for it.
Platte County fire warden Aaron Clark says this year has been one of the worst fire seasons in a decade, and it’s due to hot, dry weather and a large fuel load. Summertime lightning storms have brought a small amount of moisture to the area, but everything’s so tinder-dry, any moisture benefits are short-lived. There have been a high number of lightning-ignited blazes, and it has taken a toll on volunteer firefighters responding to each and every call for a smoke check.
“[Our firefighters] are tired and stretched thin. We roll everything we can get, and when we need one engine to respond to a call, we call five because any fire has the potential to become a major fire, very quickly,” Clark said.
He added, “The community in Platte County is fantastic, I think there are few counties in the state that have so much support.”
Twenty-two crews were sent from Platte County to help contain the Bear Creek fire just over the border in Albany County, off CR12. Though Friday saw the fire trying to move beyond the fire lines, the crews were able to bring it under control, and as of Monday, the Bear Creek fire is at the stage of just needing to be monitored. It burned 1,422 acres, and an evacuation notice was posted for residents in the area and along state highway 34 during the initial stages of the blaze.

Last Thursday, Sept. 12, a fire was reported on La Bonte Creek east of Esterbrook in Converse County.
Clark explained the fire is on BLM and public land on Baldy Ridge, and is working its way through the rocky and steep terrain, making it inaccessible by much more than “hand crews and an airshow,” describing multiple aircraft being used to aid in fire suppression efforts.
“They are using scooper planes, and since Glendo Reservoir is so close, they are using it a lot. They are using six scoopers in a row and it’s doing a good job for them…the fire has slowed down,” Clark said.
Known officially as Bombardier CL-415 water scoopers, the turbine-powered fire suppression planes collect 1,620 gallons of water in 12 seconds. The planes have a cruise speed of 180 knots and operate up to four hours without refueling. In an average mission of six nautical miles distance from water to fire, each scooper can complete nine drops within an hour and deliver 14,589 gallons of water.
Glendo State Park superintendent Brian Johnson confirmed scoopers have been utilizing the water at Glendo since Friday. He emphasized, while the scoopers are utilizing the lake’s water, boaters need to remain along the shoreline and avoid the middle of the lake, so the planes can have the mile-long opening necessary to collect the water.
Though a Facebook update on Glendo State Park dated Sept. 8 stated the water levels in Glendo have been lowering, “…there is still plenty of water for boating, fishing, skiing, etc.”
The LaBonte fire escalated to the point Wyoming Team 6, a Type 3 fire incident management team, took control of the operation on Sunday. A press release stated it is 3,300 acres in size with 11 percent containment as of Monday morning. Approximately 200 personnel are assigned to the fire, including six hand crews, eight smokejumpers, eight engines, a dozer and multiple air resources. Updates are now being posted to inciweb.wildfire.gov.
In addition to the Pleasant Valley fire near Guernsey and Hartville in August, which according to Clark resisted all efforts of containment with the added handicap of wind in its wild run across the terrain, there have been notable lightning fires near Glendo Dam, Badger Road, Grayrocks, and multiple other locations across the county – most of them started by lightning.
A fire ban has been in effect in all of Platte County since June.