Ferris Mountain Wildfire Managed As Controlled Burn

A wildfire in the Ferris Mountains in Carbon County, just over the border from Natrona County, flared up Sunday afternoon sending smoke billowing and drifting to the east over Pathfinder reservoir.

Fire management officials with the Bureau of Land Management say the fire that's been smoldering for several days went from a few acres to about 200 Sunday and is being allowed to burn.

Shelly Gregory, spokesperson for the High Desert District out of Rawlins says, "It's  been really small and  growing very slowly. We're using it as part of a larger prescribed fire project. It actually started out as a wild fire, but we're directing it to use it as a prescribed burn."

Gregory says the fire will help them reach their fire objectives already in place for the area. She admits that when people see the smoke they assume the worst, but she says it is being controlled.

"We're anticipating there is going to be quite a bit of smoke over the next couple days and then we're expecting cooler weather to move in and that should help dampen it a little bit."