Fire crews get upper hand on Moab blaze

A wildfire fire burning in a wetlands area on the outskirts of Moab was 70 percent contained as of 2:30 p.m. Thursday.

The fire, which started late Tuesday and at one point forced the evacuation of about 200 motel guests and RV campers, was officially determined to be 435 acres, said Jason Curry, with the state Division of Forestry. The fire was burning on the Nature Conservancy Matheson Preserve, just off Highway 191 near the Colorado River.

"We do have a pretty good containment," he said.

The weather has been cooperating with firefighting efforts, he said. Full containment was possible by Thursday night.

Fire crews were expected to monitor the blaze Thursday night and this morning as the last bit of the fire was extinguished and to look for hot spots.

Officials believe the fire was human-caused.

— Pat Reavy