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Rain helps put out lightning-strike fire

Archuleta County Torch Fire extinguished

The Durango Interagency Dispatch Center said a small wildfire that broke out Wednesday after lightning struck a mesa one mile north of County Road 500 between Trail and Coal Mine canyons on the Southern Ute Indian Reservation in Archuleta County has been contained thanks to rain.

At first, fire managers let the Torch Fire grow, calculating that in the long run, it would be safer to let the mesa – which was littered with dead trees – burn now under controlled circumstances.

On Thursday evening, the fire engulfed 12 acres. About 25 firefighters worked to contain the blaze.

But late Friday afternoon, fire managers changed tactics after 0.5 inches of rain soaked the area, reducing the fire’s intensity.

By Saturday morning, fire managers chose to pursue a “full suppression” strategy. The Durango Interagency Dispatch Center pronounced the fire “100 percent contained by noon,” allowing them to release several engine crews.

As of Saturday afternoon, the last 14-person Jicarilla crew was merely “mopping up,” and the agency predicted it would be released before nightfall as long as conditions did not change.

cmcallister@ durangoherald.com



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