Remington Fire Volunteer Weekend

An example of the many miles of fence destroyed by recent fires is shown above, in a photo courtesy of Rachel Adam.

By Jan Stevens

It's hard to grasp the extent of damage brought on by the Remington Fire. From being ten miles wide and over 40 miles long, this fire didn't leave much behind. Starting in Sheridan County, Wyoming, the fire continued into Montana by torching portions of three counties including Powder River, Big Horn and Rosebud. Covering over 196,000 acres, the fire affected hundreds of miles of fence that simply aren't there anymore. Many of the ranchers affected lost 80-100% of their grazing land and several lost stackyards of precious hay. These ranchers not only lost fences, grazing land, and stackyards of hay, they lost cattle. The number of cattle lost is still being counted, but it's estimated to be over 500 head. While everyone who was directly affected by this fire has been attempting to pick up the pieces, a dedicated group of community members has come together to help our family and friends.

September 7-8, 2024, is slated for the Remington Fire Volunteer Weekend.

Staging for the weekend will be at the historic OW Ranch (49 miles south of Ashland, Montana; 44 miles northwest of Sheridan, Wyoming). The focus of the Volunteer Weekend is to help those affected by the fire with fencing.

While it is understood that the replacement and/or repair of all the fences affected will be a long process, certainly longer than one weekend, the group plans to work on fences between property owners and fences that the property owners deem most important. Volunteers will also help to clean up burnt fence lines and around homesteads.

As with any endeavor of this magnitude, feeding the volunteers is a job onto itself. A group is working on collecting, cooking, baking, and assembling lunches and dinners for both days, as well as breakfast for Sunday morning.

Volunteers are asked to be at the OW at 7:00am both Saturday and Sunday, as it is projected to be a warm weekend. Volunteers will be assigned to work groups and will disperse from there. For those volunteers who wish to work both days, the OW has graciously offered to allow camping at the ranch. Volunteers will be asked to bring coolers with ice so that they can have the various drinks that will be provided kept cold while they work.

While understanding that not everyone is game for helping on the ground, the group has contacted several local businesses who are collecting fencing supplies that have been purchased by donors to be utilized for the Remington Fire. Grant's Hardware has graciously offered to help with the collection of purchased items from the store that will be donated to the cause. Opportunity Bank of Montana in Ashland, Montana has established an account for the Remington Fire and is accepting monetary donations for the group to purchase needed fencing supplies to help support the effort. In addition to the fencing supplies and funds being donated, donations of various food items are also needed to help feed the volunteers.

More detailed information can be found by following QR Code or searching Facebook for "Remington Fire Volunteer Weekend".

As with any venture such as this, the need to know who and how many is necessary. We're asking everyone who is coming to volunteer for the Remington Fire Volunteer Weekend signup online through the link on the Facebook page. Not only will this give us an idea for how much we're going to need for food, but it will also help us in assigning people to the various work groups. Volunteers may also call Jan Stevens at 406-784-2469.

The attached QR Code may be scanned to find the volunteer page: