Controlled burning on Animas City Mountain near northern city limits in Durango is expected to resume Friday after a two-day pause, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
The prescribed burn on Monday and Tuesday scorched about 270 acres, but the BLM wants to burn another 228 acres on Friday before bringing operations to a close.
Friday’s burn is expected to put up “a lot more smoke” than the ones earlier this week, simply because more acreage will be burned, said Deana Harms, spokeswoman for BLM. Smoke may settle in town and the Animas Valley on Friday night, and the smoke will probably be much more visible Saturday morning than it was earlier this week, she said.
Firefighters will also get started an hour earlier than they have been.
Crews have an advantage on Friday, because they can burn into the existing units that were burned earlier this week, Harms said. The burning will take place on two sections of land on the western side of the prescribed area.
Burning was paused Wednesday and Thursday to secure previously ignited areas, according to a news release issued Thursday by the BLM. A Hotshot crew and fire engines remained on scene to mop up and patrol the burn area. High winds Wednesday night did not cause any issues, Harms said.
The burns are being done to reduce the risk of high-intensity wildfire, and to improve forest health and wildlife habitat, according to the BLM.
A low-intensity burn like what is being done will leave a mosaic look, with some blackened areas and patches of vegetation.
“Not everything’s going to be black; you’re still going to have vegetation that did not burn,” Harms said.
Some people have asked about what happens to wildlife during a controlled burn. Harms said wildlife is well adapted to wildfire, and in a low-intensity burn, animals are able to safely flee the area and even rescue their young, she said.
“When they’re not moving very fast with the fire, it gives animals plenty of time to get out of the way and go somewhere else,” she said.
The prescribed burn is also good for the soil. It “cleans up” flammable materials and breaks them down into nutrients that go back into soil and helps restore native grasses, Harms said. High-intensity fires, on the other hand, can sterilize the soil, which requires reseeding.
The hope is that mechanical thinning and prescribe burning will prevent an uncontrolled wildfire from reaching city limits from the northwest.
Animas City Mountain will remain closed until burning is completed and wildland firefighters can make sure hot spots are extinguished and check for dangerous trees that could fall after being burned.
Harms wasn’t sure exactly how long that would take; she estimated a week or a month.
A low-pressure system is expected to move into the area this weekend, which could bring moisture Saturday afternoon.
The San Juan National Forest also began a controlled burn Thursday about 10 miles northeast of Bayfield in the Beaver Meadows/First Notch area.
shane@durangoherald.com
