The Hamilton fire 60 miles north of Cortez had burned 600 acres of piñon-juniper forest, scattered sagebrush, and grasses on BLM land in the Montrose district as of Monday morning.

The blaze in the Nucla-Naturita area was started by what firefighters call "holdover lightning."

In these hot months, dry lightning has been the norm, but in cases where moisture follows lightning, fires often smolder until the fuels dry out and the fire becomes visible to spotters.

"Our resources are limited due to the drain from other fires," said fire spokesman Rick Oberheu.

For now, the fire is being managed with local resources, but if the two engines, one helicopter, bulldozers and half a dozen crew members within the rugged terrain can’t get it under control, they may need to call in outside help, he said. On Monday fire officials could not estimate when the fire would be contained.

Firefighters started battling the fire on Sunday afternoon. Oberheu estimated the fire is approximately 6 miles south of the Basin Creek store on State Highway 141.

Oberheu said that so far the fire has displayed erratic activity and 60- to 70-foot flame lengths.

A cow camp that included outbuildings for backcountry wranglers, and three natural gas wells were threatened on Sunday, but none were damaged.

Oberheu said on Monday that one cabin is still threatened, but he thinks it is very defensible.