Vantage Highway fire flares to 10,500 acres on Tuesday; fire moving away from towns

The Vantage Highway fire grew overnight from 4,500 acres on Monday to about 10,500 on Tuesday, according to fire officials.

About 10% of the fire was contained, mostly along its southern flank, as fire crews worked overnight to prevent the fire from growing toward the town of Vantage, said Grace DeBusschere, a spokeswoman for the emergency response team.

The fire was burning primarily north of Vantage Highway, which remained closed between Park Creek Road and Recreation Drive. The head of the fire continued to push north, with aerial resources focused on the area, as of 6 p.m. Tuesday.

The fire was expanding to the north toward the Wild Horse Renewable Energy Center as of 1 p.m., due to hot, dry and windy conditions, DeBusschere said. The National Weather Service has a red flag advisory in effect until 9 p.m. Wednesday because of the fire risk.

Fire crews were working on flanking the fire at Whiskey Dick Creek on Tuesday afternoon, she said.

The town of Vantage remained under a Level 2 evacuation notice after Monday night, meaning residents should be ready to leave if conditions worsen.

About 40 residences in the area were upgraded to Level 3 evacuations on Monday night, but were allowed to return home after about an hour, DeBusschere said. Power in the area was also temporarily interrupted overnight but was back online Tuesday.

There were no injuries or damaged property as of Tuesday afternoon.