FEMA is announcing that federal disaster assistance is available to the state of Wyoming to supplement recovery efforts in the areas affected by wildfires from Aug. 21-31, 2024.
Public Assistance federal funding is available to the state, tribal and eligible local governments and certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis for emergency work and the repair or replacement of facilities damaged by the wildfires in Campbell and Johnson counties.
Federal funding is also available on a cost-sharing basis for hazard mitigation measures statewide.
Dolph A. Diemont has been named as the Federal Coordinating Officer for federal recovery operations in the affected area. Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further assessments.
To say that Wyoming had a huge 2024 wildfire season is an understatement.
“Having over 810,000 acres burned in Wyoming is massive,” State Forester Kelly Norris told WyoFile back in October. “Weather really drove these fires. We had storms coming in, we had wind, and we just had a lot of fuel. It was an extremely challenging fire season.”
Norris added that other massive fires that consumed close to 300,000 acres like 2012 and 2020, would be on par with this season — combined.
The 2024 wildfire season more than doubled those years, which saw blazes like 2020’s Mullen Fire and 2012’s Fontenelle Fire.
When it comes to acres burned in the Cowboy State, 2024 will be recorded as second only to 1988 — the year that the infamous Yellowstone wildfires scorched 1.7 million acres of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, most of it in Wyoming.
Comparing seasons going back decades is rather difficult because there isn’t a database that would show how the 2024 Wyoming wildfire season stacks up against other fires in other years, Norris related.
“I don’t have much data before the last two decades,” the state forester said. “We invested in software so we know our [recent] numbers are a lot more accurate, but that’s not the case when we look farther back.”
A distinguishing factor for 2024, Norris said, was where the flames ran over the landscape.
“What’s significant this year compared to years past is the amount of private and state lands that were impacted,” she said. “It’s going to end up being at least 75% private and state.”
