A wildlife burned across 17,554 acres of short grass and brush south of Worland over the past week, but crews expected to have it fully contained by Monday night.

The Neiber Fire started on July 14 along the Neiber Road, about 7 miles south of the City of Worland on Bureau of Land Management and private property.

While the official cause is listed as “unknown,” the BLM’s initial report on the fire said to “please do your part to prevent human-caused wildfires.”

Fueled by hot, dry conditions, the fire threatened critical sage grouse habitat, grazing areas and equipment in the Murphy Dome Oil Field. However, fire managers said effective use of resources from the air and on the ground led to no oil and gas structures being lost. Firefighters from Washakie and Hot Springs counties, the BLM and the Bighorn and Shoshone national forests were among the first to respond to the fire.

“All agencies have shown great cooperative effort and we are making good progress on the fire,” Incident Commander Dave Wilkins said Thursday. At that time, the fire was roughly 30% contained and roughly 200 personnel were working the blaze — including two handcrews, 17 fire engines with crews, two bulldozers, two watertenders, eight fixed-wing aircraft (one being a very large air tanker) and three helicopters.

By Saturday morning, however, the Neiber Fire was 85% contained and some resources were released for other operations. After working to build a fire line in rugged terrain over the weekend, 100% containment was expected by the end of the day on Monday.

“A small contingent of local resources will work to finalize mop up, continue suppression repair projects, and haul remaining equipment off the line,” the Wyoming Type 3 Incident Managment Team said of the plans for Monday.

Local fire managers were set to take over the incident this (Tuesday) morning.

“Although threats from active fire on the Neiber Fire have passed, recreation in the affected area can still poses risks,” Wyoming Type 3 Incident Managment Team cautioned in Monday’s release. “Loss of vegetation loosens soils and increases the risk of flash floods in rough terrain after rainfall. Ash settles and disguises natural ruts or holes in tracks, trails, and rangeland.”

They added that “fire danger in the area remains high and residents are encouraged to use caution.”

—By CJ Baker