The Perins Peak fire was 36% contained and remained at 102 acres in size as of Thursday evening, according to the federal incident management team.
Fire officials said they were pleased with Thursday’s progress. They were working to achieve some containment and get the blazed knocked down as much as possible before Southwest Colorado heads into a hot and dry Memorial Day weekend.
“We've definitely done what we can with the time that we had with this weather window to get in some containment lines,” said Lorena Williams, spokeswoman for the San Juan Type 3 Incident Management Team. “We still have aviation at our fingertips if we need to reach out and pull them back in. So I think we've set ourselves up well for the weekend.”
Two more Interagency Hotshot Crews joined firefighting efforts Thursday morning, bringing the total number of hot shot crews responding to the Perins Peak Fire up to four. The Snake River and Pike hot shots joined the San Juan Hotshots and Wyoming Hotshots, Williams said.
“Because it is extremely steep and rugged terrain, hot shot crews are a great resource for that because they are well prepared for the types of challenges that come with difficult fires like this,” she said.
Brad Pietruszka, operations section chief with the San Juan Type 3 Incident Management Team coordinating the firefighting response, said in a video update posted on Durango Interagency Fire Dispatch’s Facebook page that fire crews were building fire lines at the top of Perins Peak as well as at the bottom at the fire’s heel.
Williams said Type 1, 2 and 3 helicopters are available for use if fire crews need them, and on Wednesday, firefighters were assisted by multiple single-engine tankers.
A pre-evacuation notice for County Road 208 and County Road 206 and the Dry Fork and Rock Ridge subdivisions remains in place, Williams said.
Additionally, trail access has been closed to Overend Mountain Park, Twin Buttes and Perins State Wildlife Area.
Residents seeking more information can call 385-8700.
Williams added that drones are not allowed within a 5 nautical-mile radius of the fire zone. She said drones pose a safety risk to aircraft personnel and can interfere with firefighting efforts.
“If a drone is spotted by anyone within the firefighting vicinity, we ground all aircraft,” she said. “... It stops our firefighting activities, but it also poses a hazard to life and safety.”
The Perins Peak Fire started west of Durango on Tuesday afternoon and quickly grew to about 100 acres. It caused a dark column of smoke to lift into the sky that was easily visible from parts of Durango.
Air resources were diverted from the Plumtaw Fire north of Pagosa Springs to battle the blaze.
Ground firefighting teams were unable to reach the blaze on Tuesday because of rugged terrain and waning daylight. Ground crews were able to hike to the blaze on Wednesday and Thursday.
cburney@durangoherald.com
