Several fires are still burning in Jeff Davis County after last night's cloud to ground lightning, and a new fire has started in the Davis Mountains Resort.
KRTS spoke with Mike Ward, retired Jeff Davis County Fire Marshall, who was up monitoring the DMR fire. According to Ward, the fire in the DMR began around 3:30 PM on the far west end of Cochise Canyon Road. As of 5 PM, it's an acre large. A Texas Forest Service helicopter is dumping retardant on the fire, and the Davis Mountains Resort Volunteer Fire Department is working the exterior line. DMR fire chief Jerry Ray said the helicopter is "doing a world of good." They're hoping they can maintain the fire quickly.
In the north end of Jeff Davis County, three fires burned today, all along 118 North. The Friend Mountain Fire, is located on Caldwell Ranch, about 10 miles to the west/northwest of McDonald Observatory. The fire was burning high up the mountain last night, but moved to lower ground today. The Fort Davis Volunteer Fire Department and Texas Forest Service think that fire will be contained after another hour or two more of work.
The Buffalo Fire is located about a mile northwest of the 118 and 166 Y. There has been a bulldozer line around the fire since this morning, and crews are just waiting for it to burn out in the interior. The perimeter is all cold, putting the fire in the monitoring phase.
The High Lonesome Fire is about 2 miles north of the Buffalo Fire. It began last night around 7 - 7:30 PM and was the first fire crews were working on last night. This fire was extinguished this afternoon.