Brush fire burns east of Winterhaven

Firefighters from several agencies battled a brush fire along the Colorado River, just east of Winterhaven, on Monday night.

According to Chief Steven Taylor, of the Winterhaven Fire Department, the fire, which sent plumes of illuminated orange smoke as high as 40 feet into the night sky, was reported around 3:30 p.m., south of Arnold Road and just east of Ironwood Drive.

“We knocked out the head of the fire, but the wind picked up and it started getting bad and began to spread,” Taylor said.

Taylor said the fire began to burn the vegetation in the area and spread in a southwesterly direction due to the wind, burning the surrounding brush as it went.

Although the course of the fire would take it into an immense area of open land on the north side of the river, its smoke was being blown directly into the Yuma area, which made for hazy skies.

Taylor said the Bureau of Indian Affairs was originally fighting the fire and that the WFD was called into provide structure protection. The Imperial County Sheriff's Office was providing traffic control into the area.

As the fire continued to grow in size, other agencies were called in to provide mutual aid and assistance, including the Yuma Fire Department, the Holtville Fire Department, the Bureau of Land Management and the Yuma County Sheriff's Office.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown, and firefighters will remain on scene throughout the night as the fire continues to burn.

James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.