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Crews expected by Thursday night to complete containment lines around a wildfire that has blackened more than 2,200 acres of high desert rangelands near the southwestern Utah town of Hurricane.
Interagency Fire Center spokesman David Eaker said firefighters from the Bureau of Land Management, national and state Forest Service, Hurricane and other local fire departments had the blaze about 90 percent contained as of early Thursday afternoon.
"Firefighters made good progress on Wednesday, aided by helicopter water drops [and] the fire is currently showing minimal activity with little smoke," he said. "It's really close to full containment now. We're looking for that sometime around the end of shift tonight, probably 7 p.m. to 8 p.m."
While Hurricane-area homes have periodically been threatened since the blaze reportedly was sparked by welders working on road signs Tuesday afternoon, no structural losses have occurred.
No injuries have been reported, either, Eaker said.
Eaker said it was likely Hurricane Valley Fire District and other local volunteer crews would take over final mop-up of the flames heading toward the weekend.
The fire, which has burned cheat grass and brush southeast of Hurricane and south of Highway 59, was battled by up to 160 firefighters at its height. About 40 firefighters were on the lines Thursday.