The fear of wildfire in Montezuma County became a reality twice Thursday afternoon when two nearly simultaneous bolts of lightning ignited exceptionally dry wooded areas in Cortez and Mancos.

Cortez Fire Chief Bill Jarrett said Friday that firefighters extinguished the blaze in Cortez after a three-hour fight — but not before the fire was able to burn up three acres of wooded land north of town.

"The fire (in Cortez) spread almost immediately," said Jarrett. "If we hadn’t had a wind change we would have had a lot larger fire — but the wind blew (the fire) back on itself and gave us a chance to get around it."

Jarrett said that firefighters from both the Cortez and Dolores fire departments responded to the scene at 15500 County Road 25, as did crews from the Dolores Ranger District.

In addition to the local and federal crews normally stationed in Southwest Colorado, crews from the Montana’s Helena National Forest, South Dakota’s Black Hills National Forest and Wyoming’s Shoshone National Forest have been stationed in the area to fight any wildfires that may be spotted.

Jarrett said that air support was not needed to fight the fire, but said that the crews used between 16,000 and 20,000 gallons of water before snuffing out the blaze.

In Mancos, another bolt of lighting ignited a smaller fire at the end of County Road 31 which fire crews were able to contain to one tree, Jerrett said.

"Why (the Mancos fire) didn’t spread as fast — I don’t know," said Jarrett. "The wind may have been a little higher in Cortez or Cortez may have had a larger bolt of lightning."

Jeff Colton, a meteorologist for the National Weather Service, said Friday that there is a chance of scattered thundershowers over the Four Corners region until Sunday.

"With those showers we expect to see an increase in measurable precipitation," Colton said.

Jarrett added that the continuation of dry conditions in Montezuma County has local firefighters concerned.