Fire was reported just after 3 p.m. on Wednesday and is being fought by multiple agencies. Power was restored around 12:30 a.m.
The Big Gulch Fire has grown to 150 acres since it started after 3 p.m. on Wednesday. (Moffat County Sheriff's Office/Courtesy)
Editor's note: This story was updated at 9:15 a.m. on Aug. 8
A wildfire reported in Moffat County west of Craig after 3 p.m. on Wednesday is currently estimated to have burned 400 acres, according to the Moffat County Sheriff’s Office and Craig Interagency Dispatch. After an earlier closure, U.S. 40 has reopened to all traffic.
The fire is being called the Big Gulch Fire, according to Craig Interagency Dispatch and is located south of U.S. 40. The cause of the fire is unknown and no structures are currently threatened, according to the sheriff's office.
Crews with the sheriff’s office, Bureau of Land Management, Craig Fire and aircraft are actively fighting the fire, which has also led to more than 300 homes in parts of Moffat County and Routt County without power as of 7 p.m. Wednesday, according to Yampa Valley Electric Association’s outage tracker. That power was restored at around 12:30 a.m. on Thursday morning according to YVEA.
Highway 40 had been closed for several hours from Moffat County Road 15 to CR17 and motorists had asked to avoid the area. The highway is now open in both directions. The fire is in the area of Moffat County roads 90 and 174.
Residents had been without power because YVEA opted to deenergize its Maybell Substation due to the fire in the area. In an update just after 8 p.m. on Wednesday, YVEA"s Carly Davidson said crews had identified a pole that was burned and needed to be replaced.
"We are heading to the burn area and have identified a pole that was damaged by the fire. Because of this damage, we will need to replace the pole," Davidson said. "The crews are anticipating this should take a few hours to complete, and we are advising members to continue to plan for this to be an extended outage. We currently do not have an estimated time of restoration for these impacted members, but are working to make the necessary repairs."
According to Craig Interagency Dispatch, the Big Gulch Fire is burning south of U.S. Highway 40 and west of Craig.
The Big Gulch Fire has grown to 150 acres since it started after 3 p.m. on Wednesday. (Moffat County Sheriff's Office/Courtesy)
The Big Gulch Fire Burning west of Craig. (Shannon Lukens/Courtesy)
This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information is available.