UPDATE: "Fire-33" south of Eckley contained - 14,050 total acres burned

As the strong winds pushed east in the overnight hours from Wednesday into Thursday, at least 9 grass fires were ignited in Yuma County on the Eastern Plains. A majority of the fires have been extinguished.

According to Jake Rockwell from the Yuma County Office of Emergency Management, two big fires have been contained. One was 50 acres, and the other was around 2,000 acres. The biggest fire is the fire burning south of Eckley near County Road 33, or what officials are calling 'Fire-33'. It is at 12,000 acres with multiple fire agencies working to contain it. Fire crews from Sterling, Peetz, and Merino are among the agencies assisting.

Sustained winds of 25-45 mph across the region, along with very dry conditions, are fueling these fires.

*This was the message from Y-W Electric regarding the outages, and the work being done:

We are experiencing major outages across most of Yuma County and the East side of Washington county. Due to the forecasted wind and extremely dry conditions, Y-W is operating in ENHANCED POWERLINE SAFETY SETTINGS. This mode is designed to reduce the risk of fire ignition. This means that power restoration will take longer. Our crews are out repairing damage and surveying the system this morning. Our first focus is to get power restored to the towns and emergency services. We expect restoration to continue through the evening. Call (970) 345-2291 or use our SmartHub app to report any outages, and visit https://www.ywelectric.coop/outage-center for up-to-date outage information. Thank you for your patience and concern for safety as we work through system restoration.

**UPDATE - From the Yuma County Sheriff's Office, as of Thursday evening, the 33 Fire in Yuma County, CO, south of Eckley is now 100% contained, and everyone is good to no longer be on high alert for this fire. Thank you to all the firefighters and first responders for what y'all do! The Yuma County Office of Emergency Management also sent out a notice that the fire hazard from last night’s wind event has been lifted. All fires are contained, with an estimated 14,050 acres burned. Damage assessments are ongoing, and no serious injuries have been reported. If you or someone you know experienced damage or loss to structure or livestock, please report it to jrockwell@yumacountyco.gov.

They also extended a big thank you to the Yuma County Fire Departments (Wray, Wages, Eckley, Idalia, Yuma, Joes, Kirk, Wauneta, Vernon, Armel, Hale); Kit Carson, Phillips, Washington, and Logan County Fire Departments; Wray and Yuma EMS; Yuma PD, Wray PD, and the Yuma County Sheriff’s Office; WY Communications Dispatch; City of Wray, City of Yuma, Yuma County Commissioners, and Yuma County Road & Bridge; National Weather Service – Goodland; Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control; Colorado Office of Emergency Management; Phillips County Office of Emergency Management; American Red Cross; Grassroots Community Center; Yuma Liberty Schools; CHS, Aurora Cooperative, and Helena Agri-Enterprises.

Thank you to community members for food and support, and to farmers and ranchers for providing water, tractors, and discs.

Monitoring efforts will continue to address any potential flare-ups or renewed fire activity.

Andrew Molt Director of Member Services from Y-W Electric sent an update for Friday morning, which reads like this: Our crews are continuing line inspections and repairs this morning. Thanks to yesterday’s efforts and progress, power has been restored to more than 75% of affected accounts. Most remaining outages are on lines that are difficult to access. We expect power to be restored to all homes and critical accounts by the end of the day.