Brush fire briefly closes road east of Rifle

By Dennis Webb
Thursday, May 17, 2012

A brush fire burned possibly four or five acres of catttail marsh this afternoon, briefly closing part of U.S. Highway 6 between Rifle and Silt due to poor visibility caused by smoke, said Brit McLin, chief of the Burning Mountains Fire Department.

The fire started sometime around noon or shortly afterward north of the highway and east of Miller Lane, and was controlled within a few hours.

McLin said there were no injuries or structures burned, but firefighters worked to protect some homes up a nearby hill.

He said there hasn’t been lightning in the area, so human causes are suspected. He said he was pretty sure no ditch-burning had been taking place in the area, so it’s possible the cause was related to passing traffic, such as from a tossed cigarette or sparks from a trailer chain. An investigation was continuing, he said.

Rifle fire crews also responded, as did the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado State Patrol and Silt police.