CASPER, Wyo — In addition to responding to dozens of wildfires in the county this summer, the Natrona County Fire District (NCFD) has been called to assist with wildfires in Arizona and Colorado. National Incident Command System protocols, developed in California, place a variety of emergency response agencies, both private and public, on call and help the agencies coordinate on singular incidents.
NCFD Captain Darek Pepple completed a 21 day assignment on the Cameron Peak Fire in Colorado and has returned home, the agency said on social media Sunday, September 13.
“[NCFD] engineer Darin Pepple has taken his spot as Task Force Leader and began his days on the line.” The fire started August 13 from unknown causes and has burned just over 100,000 acres. It is 4% contained as of Sunday, according to Inciweb.
NCFD’s Brush 7-4 crew of fire engineer Bryan Morton and firefighter Derek Higgins completed their 14 day assignment on the Pine Gulch fire in western Colorado, the largest in the state’s history. NCFD captain Brian Webster, fire engineer Ryan Grigg and firefighter Chris Cody have taken over their assignment.
The Pine Gulch Fire began July 31 from a lightning strike. and is 95% contained.
“As we send personnel out to assist with these large wildfire incidents, it’s important to recognize the rest of our NCFD crew members back at home,” NCFD said, acknowledging the agency’s recent responses related to last week’s snowstorm in Wyoming.
“Shout out to those gentlemen for picking up the extra shifts while others are gone and for their continued hard work,” NCFD said. “Even bigger shout out to the NCFD Families that pick up the slack at home while our crews head to shift. We could not do it without you.”
