Associated Press - June 28, 2009 12:25 PM ET

COKEVILLE, Wyo. (AP) - Federal fire managers are cutting a fire break around a subdivision south of Cokeville in southwestern Wyoming to protect homes from wildland fires.

Gavin Lowell is a fire and fuels specialist with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. He says that many fires over the past four years have threatened homes and other structures at the Lincoln County subdivision.

The BLM has mowed down sagebrush around the subdivision to allow fire engines better access.

The BLM also is working on a second fire/fuel break project in the Commissary Ranch area located north of Kemmerer. Work to cut down beetle-killed trees there should be completed by this fall and the slash piles will be burned next winter.

Information from: Casper Star-Tribune - Casper, http://www.trib.com

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