Firefighters continued this weekend to manage a contained fire that started last week after a lightning strike east of the Dolores-Norwood Road about 20 miles north of Dolores in the San Juan National Forest.
The Long Draw fire was in a remote area, and no homes were in danger, the U.S. Forest Service said.
On Sunday morning, the U.S. Forest Service announced that nor further prescribed burns were planned, and that fire personnel would remain on scene to monitor the perimeter of the fire.
“With the fire at 75% completion and no further burn operations planned, the incident will be turned back over to a Type 4 team at end of shift today,” said public information officer Lisa Keibler.
The Long Draw fire was detected by forest service fire-watchers on a lookout tower Tuesday about 3 p.m., according to Derek Padilla of the Dolores Ranger District. It was believed to have been caused by lightning more than a week ago, according to Ann Bond, public affairs specialist of the forest service office in Durango.
It burned in Ponderosa pine forests at 8,200 feet in elevation 3 miles southeast of Lone Mesa State Park in Dolores County. Smoke may be seen from County Road 38 and Colorado Highway 145.
On Saturday, the fire hads grown to about 300 acres, Mark Thibideau, a fire prevention technician, said in an email on Saturday.
On Saturday, firefighters began focusing on the interior. The fire grew to 300 acres Saturday after a helicopter dropped ping-pong-size balls injected with a mixture that causes them ignite on the ground, Thibideau said. The hundreds of small fires that are created are expected to slowly burn together, he added.
On Friday, crews set fires along Forest Road 232-A to confine the Long Draw fire to the planned area. (See Friday’s map.)
“This fire is achieving very good resource benefits as expected,” said Fire Management Officer Patrick Seekins. “It continues to burn the pine needles and oak litter on the forest floor which is fire’s natural role in these ponderosa pine forests.”
A flyover by a multi-mission aircraft on Wednesday put the fire at 68 acres.
“This fire is burning with low intensity,” stated Incident Commander Brad Pietruszka. “The planning area contains aspen that may not burn. The fire behavior right now is exactly what we look for when implementing a managed fire.”
Responders included the forest service, Bureau of Land Management and Upper Pine Fire Department crews, the forest service said. About 18 firefighters and two fire engines were on the scene at 5 p.m. Wednesday conducting burnout operations to contain the fire within a 2,300-acre area surrounded by forest roads, Padilla said.
The forest service said its containment approach will allow fire to play its natural role in the Ponderosa pine ecosystem to make the forest more resilient to fire, insect or disease.
Padilla said the Ponderosa pine ecosystem is developed through a regular fire cycle. Fires eliminate dry pine needles and brush covering the ground, allowing vegetation to grow, he said. That benefits livestock and wildlife that forage the areas, and allows for other benefits such as water infiltration.
“Fire is part of the natural landscape,” Padilla said. “When conditions allow for fire to play its natural role in a low-intensity fashion, we want to take advantage of that whenever we can.”
In the future if there is a fire in the area under extreme conditions, the Long Draw area will provide a place for a high-intensity fire to be reduced, he said.
Padilla added that benefits include the return of fire to a fire dependent landscape which has missed at least 10 fire return intervals. He also said the approach produces more open parklike conditions versus dense overstocked forests.
Firefighters focused operations and patrols along the Cottonwood Road (Forest Road 532), which is east of the compressor station on the Dolores-Norwood Road (Forest Road 526). Firefighters tried to make sure the fire didn’t spread to undeveloped private land exists .7 mile to the north.
From the beginning of the firefight, Dolores District Fire Management Officer Patrick Seekins described the fire as “low intensity” fire.
“Live fuels are still green and holding moisture, which will slow the fire’s spread,” Dolores District Fire Management Officer Patrick Seekins said in a statement released Wednesday.
“Only pine needles and oak litter are burning right now, resulting in a low-intensity surface fire,” he said. “This is a very different situation than what we saw at the Sage Hen fire last week, where cured cheat grass and dry pinon/juniper carried the fire quickly.”
Smoke was visible from the Dolores-Norwood Road, but travel should not be affected on roads in the area, except for a four-wheel-drive Forest Road 532A. Roadside signs will be posted alerting the public to fire operations. Night-time smoke may settle downslope in valleys to the south along County Road 38 and along Highway 145 in the Dolores River Canyon.
Fire personnel from Oregon, California, Montana, the San Juan National Forest, Bureau of Land Management, and Upper Pine Fire Department will remain on scene of the fire for the next several days.
For more information, contact the Dolores Ranger District at 970-882-7296.
Sage Hen fire not yet ‘controlled’
Padilla said the Sage Hen fire, which started on Saturday afternoon near McPhee Reservoir and burned 180 acres, was 100 percent contained on Thursday morning. Things were looking good, and there had been no active spreading, he said.
The fire was completely contained, but was not yet “controlled,” Padilla said. The forest service typically waits a few days until there is no visible smoke before a wildfire is identified as controlled, he said. Crews are still patrolling the area at least once a day to monitor the fire, he said.
With wind picking up over the last few days, there is some risk of the Sage Hen fire picking back up, Padilla said. But he said that isn’t likely, and the forest service isn’t concerned.
