Update Issued on House Draw Fire

***UPDATE as of 4:45 p.m. Thursday***

Interstate 90 between Buffalo and Gillette is now open to all traffic in both directions

Original post:

An update on the House Draw Fire southeast of Buffalo was issued Thursday afternoon by Information Officer Marilyn Connolly.

As of 3 p.m. the fire, believed to have been started by lightning, was between Clearmont and Kaycee and was estimated to be nearly 164,000 acres with 0% containment.

The fire remains active, burning in sage brush and grasslands.

Current resources on the fire include 16 engines, 13 dozers with blades, 2 Type 2 helicopters, and large air tankers.

Seventy firefighters from Johnson County Fire Control District#1, Clearmont Fire, Powder River Fire, State Forestry, BLM, and the US Forest Service are on site.

Evacuations so far include North of I-90 from Tipperary Road to the Northern and Eastern County lines, the Buffalo-Sussex Cutoff, and Prairie Land Village between Cook Road and I-90.

Interstate 90 and State Highway 59 remain closed at this time.

County Roads Cook, Tipperary, Irigary, Nine Mile, and the Sussex Cutoff are open to local traffic only.

No injuries have been reported, and no homes have been lost, although some

outbuildings have been burned.

Miles of fence, oil and gas infrastructure, water tanks, sage grouse and mule deer habitat, and livestock are threatened.

We will have more on the House Draw Fire as it is released by the information officer.