Wyoming News Briefs

1370-acre fire south of Wright sparked by mine blast

GILLETTE (WNE) — The Campbell County Fire Department fought its biggest fire of the season Sunday caused by a blast at Black Thunder Mine.

At 2:15 p.m., firefighters responded to the Hilight Road area, south of Highway 450, for a reported grass fire.

The fire was contained at 1370 acres and was caused by a blast from Black Thunder mine, said Battalion Chief Bryan Borgialli.

The fire department had 17 firefighters and two chiefs working the fire, which was contained by 6 p.m. Sunday. The U.S. Forest Service was the first agency to respond to the fire, and Wyoming State Forestry also had firefighters on scene. Campbell County Road and Bridge also had resources out at the fire.

The fire burned a mixture of Thunder Basin National Grasslands, state land and private land. No structures were damaged, Borgialli said, adding that this is the first fire he’s seen that was caused by a mine blast.

He said this is by far the largest fire of the season. Before this fire, the previous largest fire was 20 to 25 acres.

“The potential is there; we just haven’t had the ignition sources,” Borgialli said.

Even though Sunday was a cooler day with a higher relative humidity, the dryness of the grass, along with the wind, allowed the fire to spread.

Cheyenne City Council Finance Committee doesn’t vote on plastic bag ordinance

CHEYENNE (WNE) — Concerned members of the public clashed over whether a local ordinance that would ban single-use plastic bags would align with “Wyoming values” at a Cheyenne City Council Finance Committee meeting Monday afternoon.

Supporters of the ordinance say it could help the environment by reducing waste and litter in the city.

“... I don’t think, based off of my personal experience, that we are a town full of litterbugs, or people not following the rules,” Laramie County Democrats Chairman Jordan Evans said at the meeting. “I think we are a windy town where trash cans blow over a lot and where dumpsters are flying all the time. So, by eliminating the amount of waste that makes it into the trash can in the first place, the more likely you are to be able to control the waste that is out there.”

The ordinance gathered online criticism on Facebook after a meeting of the Cheyenne City Council last week. Originally, it garnered criticism for imposing a cost of 10 cents per bag on paper bags for those who choose to use them instead of their own reusable bag.

Ward 3 Councilor Richard Johnson clarified that he will remove the proposed ten-cent cost from the ordinance through an amendment next week, effectively making the ordinance a straight ban on single-use plastic bags. 

The committee was unable to vote on the ordinance because only the chairman and two members of the council were present at the meeting. It will be heard before the City Council next week without a recommendation from the committee.

More than 20 individuals appeared online and in person to voice an opinion on the bill, with the majority of them opposed to it. 

If passed, the ordinance would go into effect July 1, 2024.

Motorcyclist killed in Niobrara County crash

CASPER (WNE) — A 50-year-old Colorado woman died in a motorcycle crash Wednesday night near Lusk, the Wyoming Highway Patrol reported. 

Heather Cailaoife was driving a BMW motorcycle on U.S. Route 85 when she was hit by a Ford F-150, the statement said. 

The crash happened at 8:39 p.m. near milepost 198 in Niobrara County. Cailaoife was heading north while the Ford F-150 was driving south. The Ford began to pass another vehicle and struck Cailaoife head on, the statement said. 

She was wearing a helmet at the time. 

Highway patrol did not list any possible causes of the crash, the statement said. The weather was clear in the area, and the roads were dry. 

She was the second motorcyclist involved in a fatal crash this week, highway patrol reported. 

Cailaoife was the 91st person to die on Wyoming’s roads in 2023. At the same time last year, there were 77 in 2022, 72 in 2021 and 76 in 2020.

Man caught with 1.5 pounds of meth and 1000 fentanyl pills faces 20 years

GILLETTE (WNE) — A man caught with 1.5 pounds of meth and 1000 fentanyl pills during a traffic stop in Gillette earlier this year has pleaded guilty and faces up to 20 years in prison.

Donnie L. Neice III, 53, pleaded guilty July 20 to felony counts of possession with intent to deliver fentanyl and possession with intent to deliver meth. District Judge Stuart S. Healy III dismissed felony counts of fentanyl and meth possession, per plea negotiations.

In a plea deal, prosecutors recommend an imposed 12- to 20-year sentence for the conviction.

Neice’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 10.

He was found in a car full of people that had been pulled over for driving in the wrong lane of traffic on Highway 59.

Neice was a passenger in a Chevy Suburban that was pulled over while entering Interstate 90 at about 1:50 a.m. March 21 after a police officer spotted it driving north on Highway 59 in the southbound lanes.

There were four people in the car, and the driver told police they had driven to Gillette from Casper to pick up some friends and that they were returning to Casper. Another officer arrived with a drug dog, and the police K-9 signaled that there may be drugs in the front driver’s side door.

While searching the SUV, officers found a backpack with 1.5 pounds of meth and about 1,000 blue M30 pills containing fentanyl. The bag was under the rear passenger seat where Neice had been seated, according to court documents.

Harmful cyanobacterial bloom advisory issued for Buffalo Bill Reservoir

POWELL (WNE) — A harmful cyanobacterial bloom (HCB) recreational use Bloom Advisory was issued for Buffalo Bill Reservoir on Friday, one of the latest appearances in the state to be recorded. 

The bloom was discovered at Bartlett Beach. There was a bloom reported in early August at Beck Lake in Cody. 

The Wyoming Department of Health (WDH) works with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality to issue recreational use advisories when cyanobacterial cell densities or cyanotoxin concentrations pose a risk to people engaging in swimming or similar water contact activities in areas where cyanobacterial blooms occur. HCBs may also pose a health risk to animals. 

Bodies of water under an advisory are not closed since HCBs may only be present in certain areas, and conditions can change frequently. Advisories will remain in place until blooms have fully dissipated and cyanotoxin concentrations are below recreational use thresholds identified in Wyoming’s HCB Action Plan.

The Wyoming Department of Health and the Wyoming Livestock Board recommend the following instructions for those who encounter a potential HCB: 

Avoid contact with water in the vicinity of the bloom, especially in areas where cyanobacteria are dense and form scums. 

Do not ingest water from the bloom. Boiling, filtration and/ or other treatments will not remove toxins. 

Rinse fish with clean water and eat only the filet portion. 

Avoid water spray from the bloom. 

Do not allow pets or livestock to drink water near the bloom, eat bloom material, or lick fur after contact. 

If people, pets, or livestock come into contact with a bloom, rinse off with clean water as soon as possible and contact a doctor or veterinarian. 

For more information, contact Courtney Tillman, Surveillance Epidemiologist, Wyoming Department of Health, at [email protected] or (307) 777-5522. Additional details regarding advisories and other HCB resources can be found at WyoHCBs.org.