Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-WY) says her family is devastated after a series of wildfires burned across her state over the weekend. Hageman had to fight back tears when describing how her loved ones had been displaced after a wildfire destroyed the family home she grew up in.
Rep. Hageman’s childhood home was in eastern Wyoming, about 100 miles north of Cheyenne. Wildfires burning through Haystack Range shifted direction on Friday. The Platte County Sheriff’s Office evacuated the area and several homes burned as the fires raged out of control.
Residents of Hartville and Whalen Canyon were evacuated for the second time in less than a week. The Hageman family’s historic log home was built well over a hundred years ago, along the Cheyenne to Deadwood stagecoach route.
The Kindness Ranch Animal Sanctuary was forced to evacuate its main location and made it out safely with all the animals, including horses. The larger animals were moved to a metal building and left with plenty of food and water, while a limited number of staffers volunteered to stay behind and care for them.
The fire is stuck north of Highway 26 in Wyoming and has burned more than 25,000 acres so far. The area is rural and has plenty of dry grass and timber. Shifting winds are adding to the problem and fire crews aren’t sure when the blaze will be brought under control.
Hageman says it’s been difficult for her entire extended family to lose their original homestead. Every member of her generation of the Hageman family was raised there.
Rep. Hageman unseated Liz Cheney in the Wyoming Republican primary in 2022 by more than 40 points. She’s since made a name for herself in Congress as a no-nonsense Republican who isn’t interested in playing the Uniparty’s games and has been a staunch Trump supporter ever since he endorsed her in the 2022 race.
