A lightning strike ignited a half-acre brush fire early Thursday on a ridge between Alkali Creek and the Colorado River near New Castle, prompting a multi-agency wildfire response.

Now being referred to as the “Horse Fire”, the blaze was first reported at 2:32 a.m. by a resident in Lakota Canyon Ranch, according to Colorado River Fire Rescue Division Chief Oren Moon. Crews responded shortly after but held off on approaching the site until sunrise due to unsafe overnight conditions and steep terrain. In the meantime, two  helicopter conducted water drops.

“There was no way to safely put anybody up there last night, so we sent crews in first thing this morning,” Moon said Thursday. “We believe it’s on private property, and they are up there working it right now as we speak.”

According to a Colorado River Fire Rescue Facebook post, firefighters hiked roughly 2.5 hours at daybreak to reach the fire, which is burning in dense oak brush. CRFR responded with Engine 361 and a four-person crew. The Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit is also on scene with an engine and six-person crew. An eight-person crew from the Whiteriver Module joined the effort.

Officials plan to continue suppression efforts through Thursday and aim to have the fire fully contained by Friday evening.

Moon said multiple trees were actively burning when crews arrived. The fire was estimated at a half-acre in size.

Meanwhile, smoke visible across the Roaring Fork Valley on Thursday is not tied to the Hill Fire. According to a Facebook post from the Roaring Fork Valley Wildfire Collaborative, the haze is drifting in from wildfires burning south and west of the area, including the South Rim Fire near Gunnison, which had grown to 425 acres as of Thursday, according to watchduty.org.

There are no other active wildfires currently burning in the immediate area.