A wildfire 18 miles north of Grand Junction has grown to 13,074 acres and is just 5% contained as of Thursday morning.
The fire has primarily grown to the north with small increases in acreage on the northeast on Wednesday and northwest on Wednesday night, according to a release from fire officials.
Through the day on Thursday, crews in all divisions continued work removing vegetation along roads and constructing lines around the fire. Favorable conditions overnight gave the crews on swing shift an opportunity to conduct a firing operation along two miles of the O 9/10 Road. A firing operation uses a fire lit along a control line to consume fuel (vegetation) between the control line and the fire. The overnight firing operation was successful. On Friday, crews on the south side of the fire will hold and improve lines along the O 9/10 Road, in addition to continuing prep work on the west end of that road to potentially continue firing operation in the future.