PINEDALE (WNE) – What are the chances of two tractor-trailers catching fire on the same night – on the same Highway 191? The chances are not “zero” because that happened on Tuesday, Nov. 28.

The  Sublette County Unified Fire volunteer firefighters responded to both. 

The first call at around 5 p.m. involved a semi-trailer hauling potatoes with its rear tires on fire about 5 miles northwest of Pinedale, according to fire SCUF public information officer Mike Petty. 

Other drivers alerted the semi driver, who pulled just off the road at the Duck Creek pullout off Highway 191, where bystanders used fire extinguishers to keep the initial fire from spreading until additional firefighters arrived. 

The potatoes and trailer itself weren’t damaged, only the truck’s tires. Per protocol, WHP impounded the trailer. 

SCUF battalions were dispatched again at 6:20 p.m. for a second truck that was completely engulfed in flames at the Sand Draw Industrial Park south of Boulder. 

The truck had been disconnected from the trailer but it was close to multiple other truck-trailers that had hauled produced water. Due to the potential of the fire spreading to them, SCUF called out several battalions, according to Petty.

“The fire was contained to the single truck without damage to the other trucks close by — even with the closest fire station being 10 miles from the scene,” he said. 

The Wyoming State Fire Marshal’s Office will assist with the investigation into the cause of the fire due to the amount of equipment that could have been lost.