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Bucktail Fire

Unit Information

Colorado 
Montrose, 
81401 
Colorado 
Montrose, 
81401 

Incident Contacts

Fire Information
Phone: 970-823-4060
Hours: 8am-8pm

Highlighted Media

The photo is a night shot of the bucktail fire. The large orange glow emits black smoke into a dark sky.

At approximately 11:20 a.m. Thursday, August 1, the Bucktail Fire was reported on private land in the Bucktail drainage, about 6.5 miles northeast of Nucla near County Road 25. The fire quickly spread onto BLM and, later, USFS ownerships. The fire was mapped by the DFPC Multi-Mission Aircraft (MMA) at 111 acres in size at approximately 1:15 p.m. and at 1,760 acres by 8:00 p.m. It is burning in pinyon pine, juniper and oak brush fuel types. When it was first reported, it was exhibiting extreme fire behavior largely driven by slope and fuel. 

Multiple firefighting resources aggressively responded during initial attack including eleven aircraft: one very large, four large, and four single-engine air tankers, two helicopters; five engines including one from Telluride and one from the Nucla Naturita Fire Department, one 16-person Job Corp Buzzard Creek hand crew, and Montrose County dozers. 

There are road and area closures in place due to this fire. See the closures tab for more information, including maps.

There are no structures threatened and no evacuations in effect.

The Type 3 incident command transitioned to a local Type 4 organization on August 14, 2024. 

Basic Information
Current as of Thu, 08/15/2024 - 11:23
Incident Time Zone America/Denver
Incident Type Wildfire
Cause Undetermined
Date of Origin
Location 5 miles NE of Nucla, CO
Incident Commander Everett Phillips IC3 & Patrick Blair IC3(t)
Incident Description Wildfire
Coordinates 38° 18' 24'' Latitude
-108° 27'
19
'' Longitude
Current Situation
Size 7,202 Acres
Percent of Perimeter Contained 83%
Estimated Containment Date 9/30/2024
Outlook
Current Weather
Weather Concerns

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