On a relatively slow day, the West Fork Complex fires grew to 94,476 acres Tuesday.
“There was low activity,” said Laura McConnell, a spokeswoman for the Rocky Mountain Type 1 Incident Management Team. “The fires are still burning, but there is less smoke, and things are going well.”
An expected warming trend didn’t materialize, McConnell said Tuesday afternoon. Thunderstorms dumped two-tenths of an inch of rain on the town of South Fork, not on the fire areas, but the overall effect held temperatures down.
McConnell said there is 7 percent containment of the West Fork Complex, the overall name for the West Fork, Windy Pass and Papoose fires. The fires are in the Wolf Creek Pass area and west of Creede. The first of the three, the West Fork, started from lightning June 5.
In an effort to forestall wildfires, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management have imposed fire restrictions in the San Juan National Forest.
The Forest Service has stage 1 restrictions in places generally above 8,500 feet elevation and more restrictive stage 2 measures in force below that elevation.
The BLM today initiated stage 1 restrictions in San Juan County and stage 2 regulations in La Plata, Archuleta, Dolores and Montezuma counties. Stage 1 restrictions remain in effect in Delta, Gunnison, Hinsdale, Montrose, Ouray, Saguache and San Miguel counties.
Under stage 1 restrictions, campfires are limited to permanent fire rings or grates in developed campgrounds. Under stage 2 restrictions, all open fires and campfires are banned.
Maps delineating Forest Service restriction areas and complete lists of various restrictions for each stage are available at www.fs.usda.gov/sanjuan or by calling 247-4874. Information about BLM areas is available at http://gacc.nifc.gov/rmcc/dispatch_centers/r2mtc or call (970) 240-1070.
dale@durangoherald.com
