Episode Details

It's time to take a look at what's happening around Wyoming, for Monday, October 7th. I'm Wendy Corr, bringing you headlines from the Cowboy State Daily newsroom - brought to you by the Cowboy State Daily Morning Show with Jake! From 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, Cowboy State Daily's Jake Nichols brings to life the latest news, weather, sports and in-depth conversations that matter to you.

The Elk Fire that began with a lightning strike southeast of Dayton and blew up overnight last Sunday has continued to blow up since. The fire was last estimated to be around 73,000 acres on Sunday.

Cowboy State Daily's Greg Johnson spoke to some of those who had evacuated or been told to be ready to leave their homes. They said there's a feeling of helplessness and fear at having to watch the flames and smoke advance without being able to do anything.

"It's just a dangerous, unpredictable situation for the folks there. The whole town of Dayton is on Set Status, which means the next status is go, you know, it's, you know, go and get out… a lifelong resident of Dayton, explained how he learned that Dayton had been put on Set Status. They sent out a notice at 3am on Saturday. Woke people up. He went outside and he said the whole mountain was just glowing orange. It was very surreal."

But Johnson said there are some signs of hope.

"WYDOT posted a photo Sunday morning that one of their staffers got from an area overlooking the fire, and it showed a single farmhouse is totally, totally safe. All around it is black… the firefighters did a good job protecting that home."

Read the full story HERE.

The Elk Fire is raging on the mountains that inspire Ian Munsick's Wyoming brand of music, and his own family's ranch is among the many that now sit in harm's way.

For Munsick, the Elk Fire that has grown so fast and is threatening to consume the towns of Dayton and Parkman is deeply personal. Cowboy State Daily's Renee Jean spoke to the country music star, who has started a relief fund to help his friends and neighbors.

"This is kind of his childhood on fire, and that's why he started the GoFundMe, which I just checked, and it is at 92,000 so far. So, you know, he kicked it off with 15,000 from himself, 15,000 from his wife, Caroline, but so now it is tripled from the initial donation."

This is not the first time Munsick has seen fire coming for Dayton and his family's ranch. About 20 years ago he said he remembers packing up everything in the horse trailer. The fire didn't end up making it all the way to the Munsick family's ranch, but it did burn parts of Dayton then. The Elk Fire has burned through the scars of that 1996 blaze, and is still zero percent contained.

Read the full story HERE.

15 inmates incarcerated at the Wyoming Honor Conservation Camp in Newcastle, one of the state's two minimum security prisons, have been allowed outside their prison walls this summer to help fight some of Wyoming's out-of-control wildfires.

The Wyoming Smokebusters are a joint operation between the Wyoming State Forestry Division and the Wyoming Department of Corrections. Cowboy State Daily's Jen Kocher spoke to members of the crew who have been putting in long hours of hard work this summer.

"The people who joined the team are extremely happy to be there. You know, they see it as a great opportunity to get out of the prison and really to give back to their community. And it's grueling work, you know, whe