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North Eden Fire Burning Close To Subdivision In Cokeville, Wyoming

The North Eden Fire close to Bear Lake is spreading into Idaho and Wyoming, forcing crews from all three states to fight the flames. Local officials are now working to protect their community.

Last night the North Eden fire was four miles from reaching a small subdivision, known as the West Side, about a mile south of Cokeville, Wyoming. Lincoln County fire warden Kelly Hoffman says the wind changed directions last night, directing the fire away from the subdivision. Crews are working on fire breaks within two miles of the homes adding to the fire break work that was done last year.

“The BLM mowed around that subdivision,” Hoffman said. “We have a pretty good break around it. If fact, we just inspected that 30 minutes ago. We feel pretty good about that if it actually burned up to that. It has to come quite a ways before we would actually worry about that or do evacuations.”

Mark Vierig, a police officer for the town of Cokeville, lives in the subdivision close to the fire.

“It’s definitely worrisome,” Vierig said. “It’s only four miles out. We’ve got horses and dogs so if we had to evacuate there’s a lot of planning that goes into it. It doesn’t give you the best feeling.”

Crews with Rocky Mountain Power are currently taking precautions to protect power transmission lines that run through the area where the fire is burning.