Encana shut 32 natural gas wells in the Piceance Basin in western Colorado because of a nearby wildfire, a spokesman for the oil and gas producer said Friday.
Company spokesman Doug Hock said there is no timeline for when the wells will be brought back online. The wells near the city of Rifle in Garfield County were shut as a precaution, Hock said.
Lightning strikes contributed to several wildfires breaking out Thursday in the area, with the largest fire being quickly knocked down, according to news reports.
The Incident Information System, an interagency website providing details on emergency events, listed three wildfires burning in Colorado: the 3,216-acre Royal Gorge fire, the 15,702-acre Black Forest fire and the 353-acre Big Meadows fire.
