A small fire broke out Thursday afternoon on Missionary Ridge north of Durango, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Denise Alonzo, Forest Service spokeswoman, said the “156 Fire” was about a quarter-acre in size as of 5 p.m. on the east side of the Animas Valley.
Alonzo said a helicopter made water drops to help with fire suppression and crews were on-site.
However, the fire did not appear to pose a risk of growing, she said.
“There’s not a lot of debris or any reason to think it will grow significantly larger,” Alonzo said Thursday afternoon.
The cause was undetermined, she said.
Butch Knowlton, director of La Plata County’s Office of Emergency Management, said there had been a good amount of lightning strikes in the area Wednesday night.
“It’s in the old burn area,” said Knowlton, referring to the 2002 Missionary Ridge Fire, which ripped through 71,739 acres north of Durango. “I doubt it will do very much. But that’s just me and my opinion.”
The 156 Fire was discovered earlier today above Bar D Ranch
— SanJuanNF (@SanJuanNF) June 6, 2019
on Missionary Ridge in San Juan National Forest. The Fire is currently acre
in size. Seven firefighters are walking into the fire at this time. Helicopter
personnel reported that fire behavior is low. pic.twitter.com/HvfpaXSyc1
jromeo@durangoherald.com
