Firefighters were working Saturday to extinguish hot spots and secure the 369-acre perimeter of the Toe Fire burning on Sleeping Ute Mountain.
While humidity and a light, steady rain that fell Friday helped cool the fire, the precipitation wasn’t enough for fire managers to deem the blaze out, said a news release.
According to the release, firefighters were using Minimum Impact Suppression Techniques, such as cold trailing, in which firefighters use their bare hands to feel for heat and then dig out and extinguish hot spots. These techniques are being used to minimize further disturbance to the area, which is sacred Ute land.
“We anticipate being able to keep the fire within its current footprint and steadily increase the containment throughout the weekend,” said Brad Pietruszka, incident commander trainee.
Firefighters working the fire were joined Friday by two additional 20-person crews – the Northern Colorado crew and the Navajo Hotshots. The Durango Interagency Type 3 Team took over management of the fire Thursday evening.
It is 20 percent contained.
The Toe Fire was detected Thursday afternoon and was believed to be started by lightning that had moved through the area earlier in the week, the release said.
