Firefighters with the Bureau of Land Management are burning slash piles at multiple locations near Durango Wednesday and Thursday, sending noticeable smoke into the region.

The agency completed ignitions of 65 piles of slash leftover from logging operations north of Edgemont Highlands Wednesday morning. The piles may continue to smolder through Thursday.

South of town, firefighters were hoping to burn 2,000 smaller hand piles of slash leftover from big game habitat improvement project and a hazardous fuels reduction project.

However, low fuel consumption rates and high winds sent smoke over U.S. Highway 160, and firefighters decided to stop ignitions around noon Wednesday after burning 200 piles on 30 acres.

Burning will continue Thursday, and firefighters hope to burn about 25 acres. Depending on weather conditions, the agency hopes to complete the rest of the burning later this winter, BLM Spokeswoman Deana Harms said.

The piles near Edgemont Highlands are composed primarily of ponderosa pine slash. The Grandview piles are predominantly pinyon and juniper slash.

Zeta Fail, the 9-1-1 director at the Durango/La Plata County Communications Center, said that dispatch’s call volume has increased as residents notice the smoke.

Harms said that the accumulation of snow in the area is leading to smokier burning conditions. However, the agency is operating under a permit from the state health department and the air quality is being closely watched.

Igniting the smaller piles, which are wetter, has been challenging, Harms said.

Updates on the burns can be found on Inciweb or at the BLM Southwest Colorado Fire and Aviation Management Unit’s Facebook page.

rschafir@durangoherald.com