The Mesa Verde Heli Attack helicopter works to put out flames that threatened homes on Friday during the 217 Fire southeast of Durango. The aircraft expenses will be covered by state programs.
Jerry McBride/Durango Herald file
Crews fight a wildland fire off of County Road 217 south of Durango on Friday afternoon. The fire started after a controlled burn got out of control about 2:30 p.m. It threatened four structures. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Crews fight a wildland fire off County Road 217 south of Durango on Friday afternoon. The fire started after a controlled burn got out of control. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
A helicopter helps fight a wildland fire south of Durango on Friday afternoon. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
A firefighter helps to put out a fire off County Road 217 south of Durango on Friday afternoon. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
Firefighters put out a fire off County Road 217 and Thoroughbred Road south of Durango on Friday afternoon. Photos by Luke Perkins/Durango Herald
Firefighters help to put out a fire off County Road 217 and Thoroughbred Road south of Durango on Friday afternoon. Photo Shane Benjamin/Durango Herald
Smoke fills the Florida River valley Friday afternoon as a wildland fire burns near County Road 217 and Thoroughbred Road. Photo by Luke Perkins/Durango Herald
A tanker works to provide structure protection at a house on Thoroughbred Road, south of Durango where a wildland fire burned Friday afternoon. Residents of four houses were evacuated. Photo by Shane Benjamin/Durango Herald
A plane drops fire retardant on a wildland fire near County Road 217 on Friday afternoon. Photo by Luke Perkins/Durango Herald
A helicopter drops water on a fire on County Road 217 on Friday afternoon. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The Mesa Verde Heli Attack helicopter puts out flames that threatened homes on Friday southeast of Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The Mesa Verde Heli Attack helicopter works to put out flames that threatened homes on Friday at the 217 Fire southeast of Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
A Los Pinos Fire Protection District firefighter dampens vegetation as flames approach a home on Friday at the 217 Fire southeast of Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The Mesa Verde Heli Attack helicopter works to put out flames that threatened homes on Friday at the 217 Fire southeast of Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
A lead planes marks the drop for a heavy airtanker from the Durango Tanker Base to drop a load of retardant as flames approach homes Friday at the 217 Fire southeast of Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The Mesa Verde Heli Attack helicopter works to put out flames that threatened homes on Friday at the 217 Fire southeast of Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
The Mesa Verde Heli Attack helicopter works to put out flames that threatened homes on Friday. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
A firefighter helps fight a blaze on County Road 217 southeast of Durango on Friday afternoon. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
A heavy tanker flies over a wildland fire off County Road 217 and Thoroughbred Road on Friday afternoon. A tanker, lead plan, helicopter and single-engine plane attacked the fire from above while ground crews fought below. Photo by Luke Perkins/Durango Herald
Slurry covers a firefighter’s helmet at a fire off of County Road 217 and Thorougbred Road on Friday afternoon. Photo by Luke Perkins/Durango Herald
Slurry covers a firefighter at a fire off County Road 217 and Thorougbred Road on Friday afternoon. Photo by Luke Perkins/Durango Herald
Firefighters attack a wildland fire from Betsy Rockett’s deck on Friday afternoon on County Road 217. Photo by Luke Perkins/Durango Herald
A heavy airtanker from the Durango Tanker Base drops a load of slurry as flames approach homes on Friday at the 217 Fire southeast of Durango. Photo by Jerry McBride/Durango Herald
A cost-sharing agreement has been worked out among the agencies that responded last week to a 33-acre wildfire south of Durango.
While a split has been worked out, it will be several months before the exact cost of fighting the 217 Fire will be known, said Hal Doughty, chief of the Durango Fire Protection District.
“Just a small fire like that – 33 acres – can end up costing hundreds of thousands of dollars,” he said.
The fire started around 2:30 p.m. Friday about 10 miles south of Durango. Workers for Harry and Paulett Baker were burning weed piles when the fire went out of control, said Fire Marshal Karola Hanks.
Several structures were threatened, so fire managers called in extensive resources, including a heavy air tanker, two single-engine air tankers, a helicopter, a lead plane to guide the air tankers and a plane that circled high to control air traffic. Firefighters also had an airplane do a flyover at dusk to map the boundary of the fire and heat signatures within the burn area.
A 20-person hand crew was brought in Saturday to help contain the blaze.
According to terms of the cost-sharing agreement, most of the aircraft expenses will be covered by two state programs.
Los Pinos Fire Protection District and the Durango Fire Protection District agreed to cover their own expenses since the fire started near a shared boundary.
And La Plata County will cover logistical support costs, including food for firefighters, portable toilets and support services needed for the aircraft, such as gas trucks.
It will be up to the county to decide whether to seek reimbursement from the property owner, Doughty said. But that would be done at a later date, he said. In the meantime, agencies that fought the fire needed to determine how to split the expenses.
La Plata County Attorney Sheryl Rogers could not be reached Wednesday afternoon.
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