Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years
Tents adorned the back lawn of the Worland Community Center where firefighting crews were housed for the Neiber Fire during the week of Wednesday, July 15 through Monday, July 20. The fire was 100% contained at 17,545 acres on Monday.
By KARLA POMEROY and SETH ROMSA
WORLAND — When fire management for the Neiber Fire south of Worland transitioned to a Type 3 Management Team, the Bureau of Land Management called up the Worland Community Center to provide shelter for firefighters.
According to Marketing Director Sheryl Ley she was notified shortly before 5 p.m. on Wednesday by the BLM that they would be needing use of the facility for the management team.
“We’re providing them the main conference room to utilize for eating and/or sleeping and providing the back field for tents. We’ll also have the showers available for their use,” Ley said.
According to Public Information Officer Clayton Hanson for the Wyoming Incident Management Type 3 Incident Management Team 2, around 20 support staff were housed at the community center during the fire, and were an interagency state crew from a wide range of counties around the state. The rest of the 200 crew that were involved in the fire were primarily “staked out” closer to the fire.
The firefighters were primarily self-sufficient, providing their own tents and supplies, but did cater meals through local businesses and they would have likely catered from more if they had spent more time in the community. Their last night was on Monday night.
Hanson said that the community center a great location for an incident command post, and was a great working space for them to be comfortably separated in order to not interrupt the community center operations.
Ley said the center is used for emergencies including as a shelter in cases of flooding or other natural disasters, school safe location during lockdowns and for sheltering firefighters when the needs arise, as well as other emergencies.
She said the firefighters were asked to follow the center’s own rules for the virus, including making sure they had all signed in.
During the time the firefighters were there the center was still open for walkers and other users.
Regarding the center, she said the back gym is currently being used by the Worland Youth Learning Center and is not available for the public.
Office hours for the center are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The center is open from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Firefighters were given 24-hour access.
