‘Unprecedented’ Wildfire Rages Through Wyoming’s Bighorn National Forest

The lightning-sparked fire has burned 118 square miles, four times more than the blaze previously labeled the forest’s largest in 100 years.

The perimeter of the Remington fire in Wyoming in August 2024. Courtesy of Southwest Incident Management Team

Wyoming officials are calling a 118-square-mile fire charging through the Bighorn National Forest “unprecedented.”

In a community meeting on Oct. 9 in Big Horn to discuss what is now termed the Elk Fire, Forest Supervisor Andre Johnson of the U.S. Forest Service described the conditions under which firefighters have been working.