The big plume of white smoke in eastern La Plata County might be unnerving for residents, but it’s part of controlling future wildfires, as well as improving big-game habitat.
That’s the message Forest Service employees shared Friday during the second day of aerial ignition of the Pargin prescribed burn.
The burn, centered around Pargin Mountain southeast of Bayfield in the HD Mountains, is expected to cover 6,000 acres by Sunday. Crews burned 19 miles of the perimeter last week, and aerial ignition of the interior started Thursday and should conclude Saturday.
Staff planned the burn for months, and 90 people have worked on it at different times this week, said Matt Janowiak, district ranger for the San Juan National Forest.
While the term “aerial ignition” brings to mind flaming balls falling from the sky, that’s not exactly what happens, said Jodi Mallozzi, fire prevention officer for the Pagosa Ranger District.
A three-person crew in a small helicopter equipped with a plastic dispenser with oscillating chutes drop four innocuous looking white balls at a time. The balls, each a little smaller than a Ping-pong ball, contain potassium permanganate. They are injected with glycol, or antifreeze, before they’re released, and an exothermic reaction causes them to ignite when they hit the ground.
The spheres are dropped first on ridge tops, then the helicopter works down to drainage bottoms, Mallozzi said. The crews work to create small, slow burns, not a conflagration “that nukes a hill,” she said.
The Forest Service has a state permit for three days of aerial ignition. Monitors are on the nearby Vance Ranch and in Arboles to measure the smoke.
For a prescribed burn, a laundry list of variables must be in place, Mallozzi said. That includes temperature, humidity, winds and other factors.
The rugged terrain for the Pargin burn is a challenge, said Chris Tipton of the Forest Service.
The burn is part of a series of fires planned from Saul’s Creek to Fossett Gulch to Pargin Mountain, which was chosen this year because of the homes and ranches in the area and infrastructure such as power lines and relay stations.
“We also want to improve the habitat for wildlife,” Tipton said.
The burn is a partnership between private landowners, where 35 acres of land is being burned, along with the state, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Southern Ute Indian Tribe and U.S. Bureau of Land Management.
Last year’s Yellowjacket prescribed burn covered about 5,000 acres, so this year’s will double that area. Ideally, Tipton said the district should burn about 10,000 acres a year to improve the forest’s health and ecosystem.
“This is scary,” he said, gesturing to the dozens of smoke plumes rising from nearby mountains.
His agency paid for a motel room in Durango for one elderly resident who lives in the area.
One benefit of prescribed burns is that staff can control the smoke, which they can’t do during a wildfire, said Ann Bond, a Forest Service spokeswoman. With rain forecast for Sunday and Monday, staff members hope the air will be clearer by next week.
The Forest Service works with the state of Colorado to plan prescribed burns and to monitor and manage the impacts of resulting smoke, she said.
Burn updates
For more information, call the Columbine District Office at 884-2512 or visit
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