Wyoming’s Huge Wildfires Prompt National Online Conspiracy Theories
Wyoming often flies under the radar of the rest of the nation, but a pair of large late-season wildfires are catching the attention of people outside the Cowboy State.
And some of them are frustrated as they speculate about why these devastating fires aren’t making national headlines, including the spread of a few conspiracy theories.
The Elk Fire and Pack Trail Fire together have burned more than 147,000 acres along the face of the Bighorn Mountains in northern Wyoming and in the Bridger-Teton National Forest near Highway 26, respectively. They’re the fourth and sixth largest wildfires now burning in the U.S. West.
The Rail Ridge Fire in Oregon is the largest at more than 174,000 acres as of Friday, followed by the Wapiti Fire (128,000) and Lava Fire (97,000) in Idaho, the National Interagency Fire Center reports. The Elk Fire is next at 79,280 acres, then the Red Rock Fire in Idaho at 68,472 and the Pack Trail Fire at 68,337 acres.
Now some users on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) are complaining that national media outlets haven’t been covering the fires burning up the Cowboy State.
