August 15, 2022 |
Mother Nature gave a big assist to county and federal firefighters who were battling a 50-acre fire in Battle Mountain over the weekend. A heavy rain Saturday night took the heat out of the 352 Fire after crews had managed to get 20 percent containment.
Carbon County Fire Warden John Rutherford said fire was reported Friday burning on the west side of the Sierra Madre Range northwest of Horse Mountain. Rutherford said the column was visible to area residents.
Pictured above: Wildfire near Battle Mountain. Photo courtesy of Baggs Fire and Rescue/Facebook.
The fire started on state land, Rutherford said. Estimated at 50 acres in size, the fire did burn into some private land. No structures were affected. County, U.S. Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management fire crews responded immediately Friday evening.
Rutherford said the county crews stayed on the fire Friday night and did not return until 1 a.m. Saturday. Reports from Carbon County Emergency Management said the fire was 20 percent contained by Saturday morning as suppression efforts continued throughout the day.
Crews remained on the scene Sunday as the strategy turned to monitoring and mop-up. Although the exact size of the crew is not known, Rutherford thought as many as 30 firefighters were on scene at the peak of the fire on Friday evening.
Rutherford said fire is believed to have been lightning caused, putting Mother Nature at the scene at the start and the finish of the incident.
