A controlled burn sent up a plume of smoke Wednesday between Durango and Bayfield, north of U.S. Highway 160.
Wednesday’s burn targeted the Rabbit Mountain area, located south of County Road 502, about 5 miles northeast of Bayfield.
The project began Tuesday with a 79-acre burn, the Interagency Fire Dispatch Center said in a Facebook post. An additional 209 acres were planned to be burned Wednesday, the post said.
No other fires – controlled or wild – were active in La Plata County, the center told The Durango Herald on Wednesday.
For more information
For more information on the La Plata, Dolores and San Miguel prescribed burns, visit the following project pages:
Rabbit Mountain: www.inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/cosjd-rabbit-mountain-prescribed-burn
Dawson: www.inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/cosjd-dawson-broadcast-prescribed-burn
Summit Point: www.inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/cosjd-summit-point-prescribed-burn
West Rim: www.inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/cosjd-west-rim-prescribed-burn
The prescribed burn was one of several planned to treat 2,285 acres of land in Southwest Colorado managed by the Bureau of Land Management, according to a March 10 news release from the BLM Southwest District.
The U.S. Wildland Fire Service plans to treat areas in La Plata, Dolores and San Miguel counties through May, the release said.
The San Miguel County operation will target the Dawson area, located south of Disappointment Valley, about 17 miles northeast of Dove Creek, and also at Summit Point, about 6 miles southwest of Slick Rock and 2½ miles east of the Utah border.
Operations planned for the Dawson area will also extend to Dolores County, targeting an area south of Disappointment Valley, about 17 miles northeast of Dove Creek.
The BLM said smoke from the prescribed burns may be visible to residents and communities near to the burns, especially in the afternoon, and could linger in low-lying areas during cooler evenings. Residual smoke as piles smolder post-ignition may also be continually visible, BLM said in the release.
Fire personnel will be on-site at prescribed burn zones to ensure public safety.
“We take advantage of the right weather windows to put good fire on the ground,” Tyler Corbin, fuels specialist with the U.S. Wildland Fire Service, said in the release. “Good fire now prevents bad fire later, helping to reduce risk for the community.”
Prescribed fire smoke can affect one’s health. For more information, visit the Colorado Air Pollution Control Division’s website at www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/wood-smoke-and-health.
epond@durangoherald.com
