Albany County reimposes fire restrictions amid dry, dangerous conditions

Albany County and Laramie County reimposed fire restrictions July 22, restoring limits on burning and fireworks as hot, dry weather pushed grass and range-fire danger higher across southeast Wyoming. The change reaches beyond a weather warning: it affects ranch work, outdoor recreation, backyard burning, county events and anyone moving through open country around Laramie and the Snowy Range.

Albany County Emergency Management posted Emergency Resolution No. 2026-001, which declared a partial fire restriction and a ban on the use of fireworks. The resolution says a potentially severe to extreme fire situation existed throughout Albany County because of a heavy fuel load and dry conditions, and that high fire danger could be aggravated by open burning and incendiary devices. It also says those conditions could over-extend local firefighting capability.

For residents and visitors, the practical step is to check the county’s exact rules before starting any fire-related activity. Campfires, brush burning, fireworks and other open-flame plans now need to be matched against Albany County’s current restrictions, not assumptions from a different county or a previous weekend. The county’s Fire Warden page directs people to current fire restrictions, where fireworks are allowed to be used, open-burning guidelines and the Community Wildfire Protection Plan, while the county’s fire restrictions page carries the official rules.

That matters for ranchers cutting work across dry grasslands, for contractors and crews planning outdoor burning, for campers and hunters headed toward public land, and for county events that draw summer traffic into Albany County. In a county with wide open range and fast-moving wind, a spark that would have been minor earlier in the season can now become a fire call in minutes.

The restrictions also fit a broader dry pattern across the region. A July 10, 2025 Western Water Assessment briefing said much of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming saw above-average temperatures and below-average precipitation during June, with record low precipitation in parts of northern Utah and southwestern Wyoming. A U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service drought outlook described drought and extreme drought as capable of driving significant fire potential across western lands.

Albany County has used the same emergency tool before. In 2022, Resolution 2022-016 declared partial fire restriction and a ban on fireworks under similar heavy-fuel, dry conditions in northern Albany County, showing how quickly local officials move when the risk shifts from dry to dangerous.