Log building destroyed in Gyp Creek Road fire

The Lovell Volunteer Fire Department was called out just after midnight Monday night for a fire north of town on the Gypsum Creek Road.

The call to 1365 Gypsum Creek Road came in at 12:10 a.m., with the caller reporting a barn on fire and “fully engulfed.”

The Lovell Volunteer Fire Department responded, and Chief Zach Blain said an old log building being used as a pig barn was in flames.

“When the first truck got there we were trying to prevent it from spreading to other structures nearby,” Blain said. “After we got it cooled down we were able to cool down a corral and other structures, then return to the main building to fully extinguish it.

“It was a total loss, but we managed to keep it from spreading to other structures severely. There was another old log cabin nearby and spot fires in the manure (in the corral).”

The building, owned by Hip and Loretta Tillett, had been used as a farm building for many years, Blain said, adding that four pigs were killed in the fire. He said the fire was caused by a heat lamp that shorted out and said the fire was called in by a family member.

“They got most of the animals out of the area before we got there,” Blain noted.

The chief said six trucks responded to the scene including two command vehicles. Fifteen firefighters were on scene. The firemen cleared the scene at 1:46 a.m.

In other calls during the week, firemen responded to a gas line that had been struck by equipment on the morning of Wednesday, March 11, near Cowley, a controlled burn out of control just west of Cowley Saturday afternoon and a crash at what was reported to be mile marker 74 on U.S. 14A east of Lovell on the west face of the Big Horns.

Blain said firemen responded to the scene under terrible conditions – wind and blowing snow – and the crash could not be found. Apparently, a wrong highway had been listed on the callout.

Other fires included a burn pile called in Sunday night south of Lovell, trees on fire after a controlled burn Monday evening near Cowley and another controlled burn Tuesday morning near Cowley.

Blain asked citizens to please call in any planned burns so the fire department is not called to respond unnecessarily.