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Tour of Weber Fire is set for Tuesday

FireWise will show how defensible space works

FireWise of Southwest Colorado will host a tour Tuesday of the area burned in the Weber Fire, which destroyed 10,000 acres in 2012 at Mancos Hill off U.S. Highway 160.

“We did a post-fire recovery visit in October after the fire in June,” Pam Wilson, executive director of FireWise, said Friday. “Now visitors can see where trees were thinned before the fire, the slurry dropped during the fire and the mud flow after the fire.

“Sensible (defensive) space around homes does work,” Wilson said. “No homes were lost in the fire.”

A juvenile was charged in connection with starting the fire, which erupted June 22, 2012, and burned for 15 days on Bureau of Land Management property. Fire officials evacuated 140 homes, but only small outbuildings burned.

Four or five stops will be made in the Elk Stream Ranch and Elk Springs Ranch subdivisions during the tour Tuesday, Wilson said; residents will help visitors understand what can happen during a fire.

The west side of the area burned, Wilson said. The east side is green with vegetation.

People interested in the tour, which is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., can call Becca Samulski at 564-7860 or email montezumafirewise@gmail.com. If there is only a handful of visitors, the tour may be canceled. Participants should meet before 9 a.m. at the gated entrance to East Canyon at the top of Mancos Hill.

daler@durangoherald.com



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