The Cat Fire, which began in southwest Archuleta County on Sunday afternoon was reported as 100 percent contained as of Tuesday evening after burning about 20 acres.
More good news came from the West Fork Complex, three fires burning near Wolf Creek Pass in both the San Juan and Rio Grande national forests.
“With the premonsoonal moisture, conditions improved, and the fire is settling down,” Fire Information Officer Norm Rooker said Tuesday evening. “They said in our planning meeting that there was zero percent growth today, and the incident team anticipates handing the fire off to a smaller team next week.”
Rooker said the team on-site managed to contain one lightning strike-started fire near the fire zone at a quarter of an acre, and the South Fork Fire Department held another lighting strike fire to an acre near the intersection of U.S. Highway 160 and Colorado Highway 149.
Misinformation about the fire and closures has had a significant impact on businesses on the other side of Wolf Creek Pass.
“Creede, South Fork and Lake City are very open,” Della Brown from the Creede and Mineral County Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Information Center said in an email. “There is currently very little smoke. The Rio Grande National Forest has opened most of everything north of Highway 149, including camping areas, hiking trails and fishing spots.”
On this side of the pass, the San Juan National Forest announced Tuesday that the current fire-related barricade on Forest Service Road 520, also known as Stony Pass, will be moved this week from Cunningham Gulch near Silverton. Public access to the Pole Creek area soon will be available. The road will remain closed on the eastern side of the pass in the Rio Grande National Forest because the Papoose Fire remains active near Rio Grande Reservoir.
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