After 11 days, the Rock House Fire has consumed 199,001 acres, and is 75% contained. According to Leslie Auriemmo, part of the National Forest Service's Southern Area Incident Management Team, the State Fire Marshall has determined what caused the Rock House Fire on Saturday, April 9. The fire was caused by an electrical issue inside a vacant home west of Marfa. They're still working to determine the exact electrical issue.
Currently, the fire is between Million Dollar Canyon and Bob Manning Canyon. At this point there wont be much direct attack. Firefighters are playing a waiting game until the fire gets out of the canyon system, since fighting the fire in the canyons is too dangerous.
Today crews worked on the northwest portion of the fire. Burnout operations were conducted around the Boy Scout Camp to secure and protect the area. Objectives for today included keeping the Fire west of Hwy 17, south of Boy Scout Camp Road, south of Million Dollar Canyon, east of Little Aguja canyon, north of McDonald Observatory and Limpia Crossing Subdivision.
Additionally, KRTS Marfa Public Radio's role in alerting the public of the fire was featured on the NPR website.