Wyoming wildfires force hundreds to evacuate

Fed by bone-dry timber and fanned by hot winds, the four major wildfires burning in Wyoming have swallowed up tens of thousands of acres and forced hundreds to flee while cutting a destructive path across the state.

The largest, the Arapaho Fire burning near Laramie Peak southwest of Wheatland, had burned nearly 88,000 acres by Tuesday morning. The fire has burned an unknown number of structures and is 10 percent contained.

State Forester Bill Crapser say 300 structures had been evacuated.

The Oil Creek Fire, burning northwest of Newcastle in Weston County, blew up from 6,000 acres to about 20,000 acres Monday into Tuesday, leading to the evacuation of more than 400 people.

Three hundred people have been forced out by the 7,000-acre Squirrel Creek Fire, south of Laramie, and the Fontenelle Fire has burned 56,000 acres across Sublette and Lincoln counties.