Fire crews continued Wednesday to battle Pryor Creek Road Fire in southern Yellowstone County that threatened numerous homes in the Pryor Creek area on the Crow Reservation.
A spokesman for the BIA Crow Agency fire management team said Wednesday that officials had reduced the estimated size of the fire from the 10,000 acres reported Tuesday evening to about 2,300 acres.
An accurate estimate would be made Wednesday through mapping efforts, spokesman Jon Kohn said in a news release.
There is no containment on the fire as of Wednesday afternoon. There have been no reported injuries.
"Managers have estimated from 250 to 10,000 acres – burned areas do not shrink, but in the heat of protecting values at risk (life and property), measuring a fire’s size accurately is sometimes not a priority," Kohn said in the press release. "Throughout Tuesday, efforts focused on protecting threatened homes and structures. Two outbuildings were lost and 20 to 30 homes were threatened."
The fire broke out at about 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday in farm fields near Hay Creek, about four miles northeast of Pryor. Hot weather and strong winds helped the fire burn through grass and creek bottoms. Officials said the fire was human-caused.
Numerous agencies responded to the wildfire.
Kohn said the fire on Wednesday was headed into less inhabited ranchlands east of Pryor Creek toward the Wild Horse Ridge and Beauvaus Creek areas.
"Resources on the fire or available today include a great many aircraft and engines from cooperating nearby agencies," Kohn said in the press release. "BIA Crow and Pryor engine crews returned to quarters before dawn for mandatory recuperation, but Crow Agency helicopter and firefighters will be working the fire today."
Kohn said the agency would provide another update on Wednesday evening.
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