Two single-engine air tankers are helping firefighters battle a 3,500-acre fire 8 miles west of Maybell in northwest Colorado, officials said today.
The lightning-caused fire rapidly spread through piñon, juniper and grass last night, fanned by 35- to 40-mph winds that kicked up as a cold front pushed into the state, said Steve Segin, a spokesman for the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center.
Segin said fire crews are getting help from rainy weather and expect to have the blaze 100 percent contained by this evening.
The fire, at one point, jumped U.S. 40 between Maybell and Elk Springs. The highway was closed for about an hour.
Firefighters from the Bureau of Land Management, Moffat County and Maybell used four engines to battle the blaze.
The town of Maybell, about 30 miles west of Craig, was not in danger.
The blaze has been named the Lone Tree fire by federal firefighters.
One of the air tankers is based in Craig, and the other is from Fort Collins.
The area is primarily rolling hills with a few small canyons.
Early this morning, the engine companies on the ground burned some of the area in front of the fire to deprive the fire of fuel, Segin added.
The Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center, based in Lakewood, coordinates responses to fires in Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska. It is a joint effort of five federal agencies.
Staff writer Howard Pankratz can be reached at 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com.
