SWEETWATER COUNTY — The fire burning south of Rock Springs doubled in size on July 28th due to the very strong dry winds and the latest estimate is that the fire is now 2,000 acres.

Due to the high winds on July 28th all the aircraft were grounded for most of the day.

Sweetwater County Fire Warden Mike Bournazian said that the extreme weather conditions opened the door for the fire to make significant runs through the upper Bitter Creek drainages, where the strong winds lined up as the passing cold front brought wind shifts from the North West and pushed the fire hard to the southeast where we are working to halt its progress tonight.

Bournazian said that the predicted high winds from the passing cold front on July 28th are now diminishing.

“With the help of cooler temps so were able to gain on the fire late Monday night and have made some real good progress.”

– Sweetwater County Fire Warden Mike Bournazian

The current containment is about 25%.

Many of the firefighting resources on the fire today will be returning tomorrow in hopes they can gain the upper hand.

There were well over 100 firefighters and support personnel assigned to the fire on July 28th.

The fire has burned across BLM, private and a small amount of State lands so far.

Tonight will be the first night many of our firefighters will have a chance to get some rest since starting this full suppression effort 36 hours ago.

The cause remains under investigation by the BLM and Sweetwater County.