UPDATE: West Main fire 95 percent contained
13 On Your Side's Vanessa Gongora spoke to Bureau of Land Management about the current conditions
UPDATE (7/6): The West Main fire has burned about 1,027 acres and is 95% contained. There is no fire growth and crews continue to monitor the area.
YUMA COUNTY, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - The West Main Fire near Mittry Lake spread and continues to be active through the night burning about 900 acres of vegetation, including salt cedar and phragmites.
The fire is on the California and Arizona sides of the Colorado River.
As of Friday afternoon, the fire was still at 0% containment according to Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) Spokesperson Dolores Garcia.
She said infrastructure around Betty's Kitchen Recreation Area is threatened.
“Right now no threats to homes but we do have some infrastructure related to the Laguna Dam and the Bureau of Reclamation adjacent to the river up towards the Laguna Dam area that are threatened or have been slightly impacted," explained Garcia.
The fire danger is still considered high to extreme.
“The conditions are hot and dry in general and these fires tend to burn and have very intense fire behavior," Garcia said.
Nearby departments are assisting BLM in fighting the blaze because multiple jurisdictions are involved in this fire.
“The origin was on private property so we got some Arizona Department of Forestry and Management Unified Command with us, Bureau of Reclamation Lands, and then we also have Fort Yuma Tribal Lands that are involved right now as well," explained Garcia. "We’re still using aviation. We’ve got some fire boats on the scene, as well as engines.
Road closures are still in effect along S24 and Imperial Dam Road, as well as the road to Betty’s Kitchen.
Garcia said the cause of the fire is not related to natural causes.
“What we do know is that we didn’t get lightning in the area which would be one of our natural cause factors, so that puts us into a situation where we’re looking at the human cause," Garcia continued.
The fire is still under investigation and it could take days to put out the fire completely.
Garcia said fire restrictions are still in place on federal land to help eliminate factors that could start a wildfire such as campfires, fireworks, and gunfire.
