A lightning-started fire, the Devil Creek Fire, was burning Thursday on Flat Iron Mesa, about 3 miles north of Chris Mountain in the Pagosa Ranger District of the San Juan National Forest.
Firefighting crews were managing the fire, said Gretchen Fitzgerald, acting public affairs officer for the San Juan National Forest, in a news release.
Smoke from the fire will be visible for the next three or four days, Fitzgerald said.
The blaze is surrounded by roads and is not expected to burn more than 15 to 20 acres, she said.
Fire management specialists, Fitzgerald said, will manage the fire so it can play its natural role on the landscape and enhance ecosystem resiliency, diversity and productivity.
Wildfires managed in this way can reduce the accumulation of hazardous fuels, mitigate future wildfire risk and limit the exposure of wildland firefighters to unsafe conditions.
Efforts will be made to leave a minimal impact on the land.
For more information about the Devil Creek Fire, call the Pagosa Ranger District at 264-2268.
For information about prescribed burning in the San Juan National Forest, call 247-4874, visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/sanjuan/ or follow the national forest on Twitter, https://twitter.com/SanJuanNF.
parmijo@durangoherald
