Bucktail Fire burning northeast of Nucla now 4,206 acres in size

MONTROSE COUNTY, Colo. — A wildfire burning in southwestern Colorado grew to 4,206 acres in size by Thursday, as firefighters worked to control the intensity and overall behavior of the fire.

The Bucktail Fire burning on private land in the Bucktail drainage, about 6.5 miles northeast of Nucla near County Road 25, remained at 10% containment Thursday. It had grown about 51 acres since Wednesday .

Nearly 200 firefighters were working Thursday to start ignitions on the northwestern side of the fire in order to “control the speed, intensity and overall fire behavior” of the blaze. Fire officials warned residents in Montrose County that they would see increased smoke due to those operations.

The fire broke out at around 11:20 a.m. on Aug. 1. When firefighters responded, it had already grown to 111 acres before growing more than ten-fold by the next day.

By late Saturday , the fire was 3,155 acres, spreading to Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service land, and was 5% contained, according to Inciweb .

A current mapping of the fire can be viewed in the image below.

Montrose County Sheriff's Office

No evacuations are in place, but some nearby road closure remain in effect, including 25 Mesa Road to the northwest, Houser Road, Cottonwood Trail, and Highway 90 to the south.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.