By Roger Lanse

According to Milo Lambert, Silver City Fire Department Chief, the Rodeo Road Fire, which blackened about two acres Saturday, June 1, in a 'scrap yard,' on property owned by Verlaine Jones has been controlled but is still burning under a metal canopy 60-feet in from the edge of the charred area. Firefighting personnel cannot yet reach the burning material, including smoldering tires, under the canopy.

The Whiskey Creek Volunteer Fire Department has taken over command of the incident, Lambert said, and monitors the site several times a day. SCFD is also regularly inspecting the site. The cause of the fire is still under investigation and whether citations will be issued await the outcome of those investigations.

Lambert told the Beat a 60-foot firebreak has been constructed around the burn site. A "wild guess" is possibly 40 vehicles and half-a-dozen structures were destroyed in the blaze. WCVFD may have a final count tomorrow, Lambert opined.

Crews are still mopping up and it may take "a couple of weeks" to fully extinguish all the hot spots, Lambert stated.

Video of June 1, 2024 Rodeo Road Fire taken by Jeff Johnson from Memory Lane Cemetery.