The Red Apple fire burning southwest of Rifle has destroyed one home, three outbuildings and a natural-gas line. The BLM set its size at 650 acres Friday.
A spokeswoman for the firefighting teams battling the blaze said that calm winds Friday had aided firefighters.
“The fire for the most part is laid down. Everything is pretty mellow,” said Tanny McGinnis, a public information officer for the Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, which is handling the fire information for neighboring Garfield County.
She said the fire was moving in a westerly direction away from homes and toward brush-covered Bureau of Land Management acreage.
“That’s the way we want it to go,” McGinnis said.
Many of the residents of the 40 to 50 homes evacuated Thursday night were allowed back into their homes between Rifle and Rulison. Homes on Spruce Creek remained evacuated.
Gas service to many homes in the area was cut off when a gas line burned. Susan Alvillar, a spokeswoman for the Williams gas company, said an earlier report that a drill rig and well burned was incorrect.
The fire is being fought by seven local, state and federal agencies, with the aid of three tanker planes dropping retardant and two helicopters dropping water.
McGinnis said firefighters are concentrating on protecting structures.
The structures that burned contained farming heavy equipment and hay.
Animals from a number of other outbuildings and pastures in the area were evacuated and are being housed at the Garfield County Fairgrounds. About three dozen horses are at the fairgrounds and several owners reportedly are bedding down in stalls with their animals.
Five ground firefighting crews are coming from other states, and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Emergency Management Agency has authorized the use of federal funds to fight the fire.
