A front end loader pushed around a pile of railroad ties that had caught fire 50 yards from a home in the path of the blaze.

Before eastern Laramie County could welcome a New Year, firefighters were sent rushing to extinguish flames on a dangerous day for fire.

With an average wind speed of 57 miles per hour, and gusts up to 90 mph, the grassfire quickly spread and threatened a home in its path. Laramie County Fire District No. 5 was paged out at 1:30 p.m. to the grass fire, caused by a downed High West power line at the 5600 block of Highway 210.

Backup from other departments was requested immediately and LCFD5 lieutenant Jerry Lamb explained districts 1, 2, 4, 6, and the Guard’s fire department all assisted. Lamb estimated roughly 40 fire trucks were used with 60 firefighters responding. Pine Bluffs Gravel also contributed to the effort with several water tankers and Laramie County Road and Bridge added road graders to the arsenal against the flames.

The blaze kept the firefighters on scene for five hours and consumed 1,100 acres of pasture land, along with a horse barn and shed, Lamb said.

“The wind was a challenge, we couldn’t tell where fire was ‘cause of all the dust and smoke blowing.” explained Lamb.

In the hot path, a home on Wild Prairie Lane was in a serious situation as a stack of hundreds of railroad ties burned with flames roaring toward the structure.

“The siding on the side of the house was melted,” said Lamb.

Lamb explained the response time was a big factor in controlling the fire. LCFD5 had trucks rolling four minutes after being paged out, they arrived on scene eight minutes after that. With the high winds, the fast moving fire could have been a lot worse, Lamb explained.

“There were times you literally could not see the front of the truck,” said Lamb.

When the firefighters cleared the scene, LCFD5 had only a few hours rest before being paged to another wind-related call. Power lines on the corner of Fourth Street and Highway 30 were sparking their way through a tree. Town maintenance quickly removed the tree and other limbs threatening the lines.