Crews whip fire

Zuni wildland firefighter Demetrius Pinto throws dirt on a burning log during mop-up operations on the Mt. Powell fire Tuesday. Firefighters had the 60-acre fre 100 percent contained Tuesday and are expected to be able to leave this affternoon. [Photo by John A. Bowersmith/Independent]

Independent Staff

THOREAU — A fire that scorched some 60 acres of forest near here was 100 percent contained as of Tuesday evening.

The Mt. Powell fire, which was believed to have been caused by lightning strikes about 6 miles northwest of Thoreau, led to the evacutation of a handful of Smith Lake families. It was not clear if the families were able to return to their homes Wednesday morning.

Mop-up crews remain on the scene and should be released by this afternoon.

Smith Lake residents weren't competely finished with effects of the fire, however.

At 5 p.m., Tuesday a tripped breaker on a power line caused an electrical outage in the Smith Lake area, said Mac Juarez, spokesman for Continental Divide Electric Cooperative, Inc.

An emergency crew, responding to calls about the outage could not find an immediate cause, he said.

"Power was restored about 7:15 p.m. Something tripped the breaker but we don't know what caused it."

He said Continental is not certain of how many customers were affected until an outage report is generated today by the company's GIS division.

Juarez urged electric customers to call the toll free 24 hour hotline at 1-877-775-5211 to report any outages.