On Monday, Brown spent the heat of the day on horseback, rounding up cattle that had fled the approaching flames after ranchers cut through miles of livestock fence to allow their escape.

During the round-up, the cows — likely including several refugees from neighboring ranches — slowly materialized from the smoky haze as they plodded along.

Three days earlier, the fire had ripped through the property, leaving scorched grasslands, burned buildings and dead cattle in its wake.

The flame front also knocked out power lines as it advanced, leaving well pumps unable to supply water to the effort.

"We were sucking water out of our hired man's swimming pool, and it was dropping fast," he said.

Brown added that locals began arriving with water trucks from hundreds of miles away, while one rancher brought a grader to dig fire line.

"I'll tell you what, all of our neighbors from around Garfield County came here as fast as they could get here," he said. "The only thing that stopped that fire was everybody we know standing in the way of that fire, trying to stop it. It's just humbling."