A raging wildfire has destroyed the childhood home of U.S. Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., as officials say the flames have burned over 28,000 acres of land in eastern Wyoming since last week.
The Haystacks Fire, which was initially contained Monday, reignited a day later and scorched the Haystack Range and the area north of Ft. Laramie, Goshen County Emergency Management said Wednesday.
Hageman told Cowboy State Daily on Saturday that the old family home in the Haystacks, in which she lived until she was age 7, was over 100 years old and "very special" to her family.
"That’s where we were all raised," Hageman told the outlet. "It burned."
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Hageman added: "It’s been pretty devastating."
Hageman’s brother, Hugh Hageman, told Cowboy State Daily there was nothing left of his family’s homestead, where he and his five siblings grew up in the two-bedroom home.
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"It burned to the ground. There’s nothing left," he said. "It’s kind of sad. It was a place where we all went back to. It was in pretty bad shape before the fire. No one lived there since the early 1970s."
Helicopters and heavy tankers were deployed against the fires, which had grown to about 47 square miles by Wednesday morning, Gov. Mark Gordon said. Goshen County Emergency Management estimated on Wednesday that 28,000 acres of land were lost.
On Friday, the fires triggered evacuations in Hartville, with about 65 people, and unincorporated Pleasant Valley as shifting winds changed the direction of the fires.
