Dramatic Videos of Wyoming’s South Pass Fire

Over the weekend, a large fire near South Pass, Wyoming, grew even larger, prompting evacuations and road closures.

Residents in the Twin Creek drainage area east of Highway 28 at Johnnie Lee's Corner and south of Highway 287 were told to evacuate immediately.

Level 2 evacuation notice issued for residents in Johnnie Lee's Corner and Twin Creek Drainage area due to Weiser Knoll Fire on South Pass.

Below are some videos from the area that have been posted on social media.

Both day and night videos show the size of the fire, which has been burning grass and sage at a fast pace.

Smoke rolls across the area in some places so thick it is hard to breathe, much less drive, as the video below shows.

It's been a dry summer, as was the winter before it. We all knew that this was going to happen. But much to the surprise of everyone in Wyoming, this summer could have been a lot worse.

The video below shows how the smoke can rise up like a building thunderstorm.

Some good news will come later this week when Wyoming finally gets a break with moisture moving into the area and an increased chance of showers.

Dry lightning has been as much of a problem for fire starting as human activity this year. That would be a thunderstorm with not much rain in it. So a lightning strike fire will not be put out by the rain.

Casper's fire airtanker unit has been heavily involved fighting this fire.

Fire is also a natural and important part of the life cycles of a wilderness area. As much as we hate it, we need it.