Crews quickly contained a small brush fire near the Ute Mountain Casino late Wednesday afternoon.
According to Ute Mountain Fire Chief John Trocheck, the fire started around 4:30pm in a field. Crews from the Ute Tribe, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Cortez fully contained the blaze within 30 to 45 minutes with the help of a water truck from Cortez and a BIA helicopter. The cause of the fire remains unknown.
The fire burned about 4 ½ acres and damaged one of Empire Electric Association’s transmission lines. The company says it shut off power to about 650 Towaoc residents for about five hours to protect the firefighters responding to the blaze.
The Four Corners area has seen smoke from large wildfires throughout the region this week, including the Brian Head Fire in Southwestern Utah, which has burned over 28,000 acres as of Friday afternoon.
