Northern Wyoming News - Serving the Big Horn Basin for over 100 years

WORLAND - A video of a sulfur fire Friday night just north of Worland has gone viral with the video shot by Worland Fire Captain Brandon Yule seen more than 2.4 million times on the department's Facebook page and more than 40,000 times on YouTube.

The video has also been shown on many national networks.

Worland Fire Department was dispatched to a call of an "unknown fire" at 10:38 p.m. at Pete Smet Recycling just off of U.S. Highway 20 north of Worland.

According to Worland Fire Chief Chris Kocher, upon arrival they found that the fire was a sulfur mound that had been ignited.

"Despite the beautiful flames [blue with twisting orange columns of fire], burning sulfur creates a hazardous gas called sulfur dioxide," Kocher said.

The fire department captured the video and extinguished the fire using proper equipment and gear. Kocher said in a release on the department's Facebook page, "WFD was able to position apparatus in a safe location and lay in a line to extinguish the fire. They captured the video, while in full personal protective equipment (PPE) and wearing self-contained breathing apparatus during a size up of the situation, as crews were setting up for suppression."

According to the release from the Worland Fire Department, the deposits in rural Washakie County are left over from the Texas Gulf Sulfur Plant that operated north of Worland in the 1950s. Much of the sulfur is mixed heavily with soil and is not 100 percent sulfur concentrate.

"We did not have to evacuate

anyone as the plume was smaller sized and vertical not blowing in to the residential area down range. Pete Smet assisted with the creation of a road to the area we needed to place our engine and then crews were able to use appropriate PPE and cool the product and reduce it to below the molten stage and mitigate the SO2 and fire hazard. The water applied steamed off and the small amount that did not was contained in the bowl area of the pile," Kocher said

Kocher said the cause of the fire was accidental in nature. "It was started from the exhaust pipe/manifold making contact with the sulfur product while a motorcycle rider was crossing over the mound and got bogged down."

Kocher said the rider indicated that he had been riding in the area less than an hour prior to the fire being called in. The person had permission to be on the property during that time.

According to the release, "This is a type of fire that is not common but needs to be addressed and dealt with safely and quickly. Fortunately, the WFD has hazmat technicians and they have an understanding of this as we deal with H2S and SO2 on a somewhat regular basis."

As for the video getting national attention, the department hopes other departments can use it as a training tool. He added that hopefully people need to realize the training that the firefighters needed in order to respond to the call.

"With them having training in H2S and SO2, they have an understanding of what the safety procedures are for that and they have an understanding of what they have to do to protect themselves [proper personal protection equipment] to mitigate the problem," Kocher said.

He added that it is nice for a video to show the different types of incidents that the fire department responds to and the work they do.

Kocher said, "I'd love it if the video generated a couple of new recruits for us," or for fire service in other areas. He said anyone interested in applying for the Worland Fire Department an stop by the fire hall at 200 South Fifth Street or call 347-6379.

OTHER CALLS

The sulfur fire was just one of nine calls over the weekend for the Worland Fire Department.

Other calls were:

-Pile of tree branches and slash on Lane 8 on July 7.

-Chain Fire off of U.S. Highway 16 east of Worland on July 8.

-Grass fire burning into a billboard on North 10th on July 8. Cause is undetermined.

-Grass fire on South Flat Road for a slow-moving grass fire along the roadside on July 8. Investigation found a burning cigarette ignited the fire. Kocher asks residents to use caution when disposing of cigarettes in grassy areas.

-Two reports of trees downing power lines on July 9, one in the 400 block of Obie Sue and one in the 500 block of South 17th.

-On Monday, the WFD was calls to 14th and Culbertson for a grass fire burning along the canal bank. Investigation showed the fire was caused by fireworks. The WFD reminds residents that fireworks are prohibited in city limits and on public lands including Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands.

Kocher said they have had a few fires in the past two weeks from people throwing fireworks out of vehicles and Monday's was either from someone riding or walking by. "We would caution against that," Kocher said.

He said they have also responded to several garbage fires this summer. "We would certainly encourage people to make sure areas are devoid of vegetation. Make sure there is a metal grating on top, which helps protect against product flying out," Kocher said.

"It's certainly dry out there and as summer continues residents need to be very award of campfires and make sure they are out. If residents are considering a land management burn they might want to wait until there are more favorable conditions," Kocher said. He added that the mid 90-degree temperatures last week and this week, coupled with low humidity can make fires that much greater.