Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
VEYO, Washington County — An aerial survey of a fire burning in Washington County revealed Friday that the blaze is about four times larger than initial estimates indicated.
The Cinder Pit Fire, burning between Veyo and Brookside, was suspectedt to as being started by lightning on Thursday. By Friday afternoon, the fire had reached 439 acres and was threatening four homes and a power line, the Bureau of Land Management reported. First reports indicated the fire was about 120 acres.
None of the fire had been contained as of late Friday afternoon.
Resident Monique Jackson said she hopes the fire will be contained soon. The Jackson family was evacuated Thursday night when the fire burned within 100 yards of their house, and Monique said that the incident has brought back painful memories.
"Our house burned down two years ago and we lost everything," she said. "There is pictures in (our car) from the fire before that we were able to save so I can't tell you how scary it's been last night. I have four dairy cows and four horses and three goats."
Jackson's family has only been in their new home for a year, and she is relieved to know firefighters are in place to protect their property.
The other homes were not evacuated Friday and fire crews didn't anticipate any problems for them; they chose to classify the structures as threatened and put protections in place until the blaze is contained, BLM spokeswoman Vicki Tyler said Friday.
"The fire continues to burn actively on the south flank; however, there has been no significant growth in the perimeter," Tyler said. "Thunderstorms and potential winds with downdrafts are possible later today."
No closures or evacuations were in effect heading into the weekend, though travelers along nearby Highway 18 were urged to use caution as they passed the area, paying special attention to fire crews working alongside the road, according to the BLM.
The fire has been fueled mostly by pinyon and juniper brush.
