BIA Northern Cheyenne Fire fight fire with “tiny crew”

The Bureau of Indian Affairs Northern Cheyenne Fire received a call approximately 3:05 p.m. Friday for a fire above Crazy Head Heights on the southeast side of Lame Deer. 

“It was a dramatic fire” that immediately threatened a few homes, according to Fire Management Officer Adam Wolf, but BIA Northern Cheyenne Fire contained the 53 acre East Side wildfire by 8:30 pm.

“We’re running on a little tiny crew, and we actually stopped it,” Wolf said.

The first BIA engine arrived two minutes after the callout with incident commander Merrill “Spike” Killsnight. Two more BIA engines, a Bureau of Land Management engine and a Forest Service engine from Fort Howes assisted, along with two drops from a single engine air tanker. 

Northern Cheyenne Department of Emergency Services went house to house while updating Facebook, Duty Officer Bobby Cooper said. Northern Cheyenne Fire Protection Chief Otto Braided Hair protected homes, according to the BIA press release. 

“BIA Police also really helped us out, with traffic control and with the investigation,” Wolf said.

Needing to stop the fire from spreading, the crew back-burned up a 40% slope into the fire that was creeping downhill, fighting fire with fire, according to Wolf.

The suspected human cause is under investigation. This was the third human-caused fire in 2020 in that exact area – each one has been larger than the one previous.