A brush fire burning about 84 square miles near Yuma prompted hundreds of evacuations Sunday and continued threatening homes as fire crews battled high winds and blowing dirt into the evening.
Three firefighters went to the hospital with minor injuries, and at least two homes had burned as of press time.
Thick smoke and 45-mph winds made it difficult for crews to determine the size and scope of the blaze, said Michael McCaleb, Washington County Emergency Management director. McCaleb’s agency and at least eight other rural fire and emergency agencies pooled resources and contained about 50 percent of the blaze.
“You can’t see at all,” McCaleb said. “Firefighters are having a hard time even seeing where the fire is. They really don’t even know what’s burned because smoke is so bad.”
The blaze began at about 1:15 p.m. near County Road 23 and County Road L, about 20 miles southeast of Yuma, and quickly spread north.
A reverse 911 call went out to residents in the 224 square miles surrounding the fire, warning them to evacuate the area, said Ana Baucke, a spokeswoman for Yuma County. The evacuation zone includes the town of Eckley.
The cause of the fire was unknown, Baucke said.
