The audio interview can be found here.

The fugitives were captured on August 19 in Arizona.

The Erickson house nearly burned to the ground.  The Newcastle Volunteer Fire Department in Newcastle, Wyoming saved the surrounding buildings from burning and they did a great job putting out the huge fire in the main house.  Great Job to the Newcastle Volunteer Fire Department! When KASL Radio first reported on scene it appeared as though everything on the property would be burned to the ground and lost forever.  You can’t burn a high spirit!

KASL went back October 2, 2009 to get the latest and we were shocked to find the surrounding buildings were left undamaged.  Most of the contents in the house were lost.  All caused by a wood burning stove that was being used to burn old cardboard boxes (as many of us have before).

How often have you disposed of old boxes by burning them in your wood burning stove?  It sounds like a great way to get rid of them, and usually is.  That was how it all started on Tuesday afternoon at the home of Dr. Wayne B. and Suzanne Erickson.

The boxes were lit; the stove door was closed as the boxes began to burn.  With little air getting to the blaze the fire box filled with hot smoke.  When the door was reopened, air rushed in igniting the blaze in a flash that blew burning pieces of paper on to the carpet.  The tragedy began!  Minutes later the house was lost.

“Other than Suzanne singeing some of her hair no one was injured in the fire” Dr. Erickson confirmed.  The things that were lost, “just stuff” Erickson sighed agreeably.

“This” reporter can only imagine how it would feel if it was “just stuff”.   How could you ever account for “just stuff”?  Your whole life “up in smoke”-no punn intended.

When I talked to Dr. Erickson he asked me to, “please thank the members of the community!  You can’t imagine the outpouring of support!  Clothing from Pamida, people opening their homes, offering rooms for us to stay in!  What a community, these people are amazing! We appreciate every one of them!”   Dr. and Mrs. Erickson also thanked the staff at KASL for getting the pictures of the fire on the web site so fast.  Because of that, friends and family from around the world, were able to feel closer in this time of tragedy.

In surveying the damage of this fire, I was truly amazed by the efforts of our Newcastle Volunteer Fire Department!  It was truely amazing.  This group of individuals truly do make up the best Volunteer Fire Department in the state!  While the house was lost, there are buildings as close as foot away that weren’t even singed or smoke damaged.  There are many trees that were very close to the house that hardly show any fire damage at all.  The garden next to the house was mostly lost as shown in the picture.

While the loss of the house is a tragedy, it could have been a lot worse, very easily.  Thank you NVFD from the Erickson’s and every one of us that that you spend your precious time protecting!

Erickson, in pretty good spirits considering what had happened he seemed as though it wasn’t the end of the world.  What a great soul he is!

Dr. Erickson a great guy and a great family man.  He and his family will rise above this awful tragedy.   He plans on rebuilding one day.

While we were there, he hurriedly carried what belongings he had left but nothing fazed him as he knew tomorrow was a new day.

If  you would like to inquire about where donations can be made please contact The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Newcastle, Wyoming.

Dr. Erickson had many years worth of collectibles. Dr. Erickson is a very respected member of the Newcastle community and it is very sad to see. It is not yet clear how much damage was caused it appeared most was lost.

There is no information available yet as to if there was any one inside or if there were pets trapped.
The fire trucks had to make way to tanker trucks as there is no fire hydrants near the Erickson residence.
As we pulled up all we could witness was a great ball of flames surrounded by pine trees.

July 6, 2009

Wyoming Refining Company is informing residents of Newcastle that oil droplets were released into the air from the refinery flare around 1:00a.m. Thursday, July 2, due to a storm-related power failure at the plant. Some of the oil settled off the refinery property. The released oil is made from crude oil, and precautions appropriate for contact with petroleum should be observed. If this oil is encountered anywhere, residents should avoid both skin and eye contact and should not ingest the oil or anything with oil on it, Garden produce should be thoroughly washed before cooking and serving. Wyoming Refining Company will, if requested, clean vehicles and buildings affected by this release.

Further information on the release and on appropriate precautions and clean up procedures will be available Monday at the refinery main office located at 740 West Main Street. If your building or vehicle has been affected by this release, call the refinery office at 746-4445 to request advice and assistance for clean-up. The Company has found using Simple Green cleanser followed by a commercial car wash to be affective for cleaning vehicles. Wyoming Refining expresses its regret for this incident to the Newcastle community. The Company has identified the likely cause of the release and its conducting a follow-up formal investigation in an effort to prevent similar incidents in the future.

Nov. 21, 2008 – posted by Staff Writer – photography courtesy Cobey Fullerton

On November 21, the Weston County School District #1′s bus and vehicle maintenance garage was destroyed by fire. Shortly before 10:30 PM the call went out to the fire department with news of the fire. They arrived at the scene with flames shooting high into the sky. The two story cinder block and wood structure was a total loss. Cause of the fire is initially thought to be a malfunction with in the heating system of the building, no space heaters or other small electrical appliances were thought to be involved. Arson is not suspected. The building, which also housed several offices including the Double Aces afterschool program, and all of its contents were lost, along with 9 of the 19 full-size buses and one Chevy Suburban from the school district’s vehicle fleet. The average cost of each full size bus is approximately $112,000.00, total cost of the fire has yet to be determined. Buses are on loan from the Campbell County, Natrona County, and Johnson County school districts.

“The other school districts in the area were quick to step up and offer any help they could provide”, said Darren Heib, WCSD #1 Transportation Director. “Ron Mills from Newcastle Equipment has already offered space in his building where we can keep up maintenance on our vehicles. The highway department has offered us the use of some tools. A community like Newcastle is very generous! We are doing the best we can with what we have.” KASL will continue to follow this story and bring you information on the air and online as it is released. Pictures of the fire were provided by Cobey Fullerton.

Nov. 21, 2008 – posted by Staff Writer

Flames lit the skies over Newcastle November 21 as the school bus barn was destroyed by fire. Weston County School District #1’s bus and vehicle maintenance garage, located between Decker’s Food Center and the Weston County Senior Center, was destroyed. Several offices were destroyed, as was part of the bus transportation fleet. The cause of the fire has yet to be determined. Newcastle High School principal Tracy Ragland indicated that between 6 and 9 of the buses in the school district’s fleet were destroyed in the blaze.

Photo Credit: Cobey Fullerton