Fire crews were able to achieve 70% containment of a wildfire burning northeast of Durango on Wednesday, allowing for all pre-evacuations to be lifted.
La Plata County spokeswoman Megan Graham said fire crews expect the fire, called the 84 Fire, to be fully contained by the end of the day Thursday. Personnel will be reduced Thursday, with remaining crews finishing perimeter lines.
Residents east of Helen’s Corner, including the Tween Lakes and Enchanted Forest subdivisions, are no longer under a pre-evacuation notice.
First estimated at around 40-acres, an aerial survey Wednesday confirmed the 84 Fire consumed only 25 acres, Graham said.
The 84 Fire was believed to be 50% contained as of Wednesday morning, Graham said, after aerial crews spent Tuesday night forming a perimeter around the wildfire, north of county roads 245 and 502. The majority of the work Wednesday involved hand crews continuing to dig lines to contain the blaze.
Aerial support will be available for use Thursday, though it’s not expected those tactics will be needed, Graham said.
Graham said it is imperative people do not fly drones as crews battle the blaze.
Weather conditions Wednesday were expected to be dry and windy, creating some concern the fire could have picked up in intensity, Graham said.
A red flag warning was in effect from noon to 9 p.m. Wednesday.
“Conditions will become favorable for the rapid ignition, growth and spread of fires,” the NWS said in a statement. “Agricultural burning is strongly discouraged.”
It was reported the U.S. Forest Service would take command Tuesday night, but Graham clarified Wednesday morning it is an interagency effort, with a Forest Service employee as the commander.
The fire is on Bureau of Land Management lands, so it is technically BLM’s fire, she said.
Upper Pine River Fire Protection District Fire Chief Bruce Evans said Tuesday night the fire was caused accidentally by someone using an electric saw.
The fire district posted to Facebook on Tuesday night the fire was “started with a simple mistake, cutting pipe with a circular saw, then turning your back for a second.”
“Just a guy doing an honest day’s work and not realizing the fire danger,” the post said.
The fire broke out around 3 p.m. Tuesday, and an evacuation notice went out shortly after, but was later downgraded to a pre-evacuation notice as crews managed to control the blaze to a point that it no longer posed an immediate risk to homes in the area.
“We decided to evacuate based on the fact that COVID stay at home had more people in the subdivisions than normal and getting 300-plus residents down two lanes on C.R. 240 with flames on the ridge not safe,” Upper Pine Fire posted.
In addition to Upper Pine, the Forest Service, Colorado Division of Prevention and Control, Durango Fire Protection District and San Juan Hot Shots responded to the blaze.
“If it wasn’t for a swift air attack and backup (from) our crews with the San Juan Hot Shots there would be a ton of heartache in Tween and Enchanted Forest,” Upper Pine said.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect numeral for the 84 Fire.
