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SITUATION REPORT 2006-2a

Yuma county fire

Report Date: March 1, 2006

Event Type: Wildland Fire

Situation: At about 12:45 p.m. today a grass fire broke out north of Eckley, Colorado. The blaze, which was contained shortly after 5 p.m., burned a total of 23,000 acres of sand hills and open rangeland. Fire crews are still on scene and will remain throughout the night monitoring the fire to ensure there are no flare-ups from hot spots. At this time no residents in either the towns of Eckley or Wray, or the surrounding rural areas have been displaced from their homes as a result of the fire. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

• The fire was reported to the WY Communications Center at 12:45 p.m. from a resident that was in the area north of Eckley.
• The initial location of the fire was in a grass field 11 miles north of the town of Eckley, at County roads 50 and S. The fire spread rapidly in a southeast direction with winds gusting up to 45 miles per hour.
• At approximately 2:30 p.m. students and faculty from Wray High School and Wray Grade School were evacuated to Buchanan Middle School in Wray. Those residents living in the rural areas near the fire were notified by reverse 911 of the threat of the fire and told to evacuate. The evacuation was lifted around 7:15 p.m. Residents in the town of Wray were not asked to evacuate.
• There have been no reports of livestock that have been affected.
• At this time the only structural damage that has been reported includes seven structures, none of which were being used as a residence. The closest structural damage to the town of Wray involved three buildings at the fish hatchery, which is located approximately three miles west and one mile north of the town of Wray. The remaining four structures were all rural building spread throughout the fires’ path.
• The only injuries reported at this time include four firemen. All four were taken to the Wray hospital.
• Two were treated and released with minor injuries and the other two were admitted. No information is available at this time concerning their condition.
• The fire was fought by ground crews, one helicopter and one spray plane.

There are no damage estimates available at this time. The Yuma County Sheriff and the Emergency Manager will be reassessing the area again tomorrow from the air and plan to have more information after that time.

Agencies: Fifteen fire departments responded including fire departments from Eckley, Wray, Wages, Yuma, Holyoke, Sandhills, Idalia, Wauneta, Joes, Kirk, Amherst, Armel, and Vernon and fire departments from Haigler and Benkelman, Nebraska. Other responding agencies included the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office, Wray and Yuma Police Department, Colorado State Patrol, Wray and Yuma Ambulance Services, Colorado Division of Emergency Management and the Northeast Colorado Health Department.

Other: No local declaration has yet been made.