CFR responds to, contains grass fire near railway
Nov. 10—CHEYENNE — Cheyenne Fire Rescue responded to a grass fire along the BNSF railway near Old Happy Jack Road Friday afternoon.
CFR Battalion Chief Titus Norris said the blaze was contained and no longer an active threat to people or property as of Friday afternoon. He added that there were no losses in the fire.
Norris said the cause of the fire was undetermined as of Friday afternoon.
CFR called for assistance from the Cheyenne Police Department, Norris said, but they left shortly after the fire was contained. A police officer told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle that they suspected that a transient caused the fire, but the person took off before they arrived.
A representative for BNSF Railway arrived at the scene around 3:15 p.m. Friday. He told Norris that the agency was concerned that a rail tie could have caught fire, which could continue to burn for several hours.
Norris and another firefighter at the scene said that someone with CFR had already inspected the railway and did not observe any burning rail ties.
Seth Winter, who works at a nearby Terracon Consultants Inc., told the WTE that he found belongings of the person who allegedly started the fire, including a propane tank.
"They had a camp going, they seemed like they were going to cook something," Winter said, adding that he and some other bystanders gathered some evidence and belongings for law enforcement. "... I told them, 'All right, let's grab the gear. Let's walk it away in case the cops want to look at it and just get out of the way of this.' I called 911."
Several people working nearby said they witnessed a large fire on a hill leading up to the railroad tracks sometime between 2:40 p.m. and 3 p.m. Friday. Multiple people said they knew homeless people frequent the area.
Winter pointed out several sites near Martin Luther King Jr. Park and the railroad tracks near Missile Drive where he had seen prior homeless encampments. He said he'd witnessed several fires in the area as a result of those encampments.
"It wouldn't be the first time," he said. "It's just one of those where you get people that — for their situation — they're living under those circumstances, but damn near none of them know proper safety or anything like that.
"You don't want to get caught in a grass fire. That's one of the worst damn things."
Norris would not comment on a potential cause but said the area was known to be frequented by transients.
Samir Knox is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle's criminal justice and public safety reporter. He can be reached by email at sknox@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3152. Follow him on Twitter at @bySamirKnox.
