The U.S. Bureau of Land Management started a prescribed burn Friday on about 275 acres near Gem Village.
The burn should reduce fuel in the hills, which will reduce wildfire risk in the area, according to a news release from the BLM. Fire managers are burning ponderosa pine, piñon-juniper and scrub oaks.
The burn may take up to three days. Smoke could be visible in the area for several days after the burn is completed as vegetation continues to smolder. Another 200 acres could be burned later. The BLM has fire trucks staged in the area and a helicopter available as a precaution, according to a release from the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District.
For information on wildfires and restrictions in the area, call the Southwest District Fire Management Information line at 240-1070, or visit the Durango Dispatch website, http://bit.ly/2dqi5Fl. The BLM also has information on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWD_Fire and Facebook, http://bit.ly/2ddez2K.
