{"id":137770,"date":"2026-07-06T13:28:02","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T19:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ferris-fire-grows-to-nearly-48000-acres-dry-lightening-a-concern-today\/"},"modified":"2026-07-07T00:02:18","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T06:02:18","slug":"ferris-fire-grows-to-nearly-48000-acres-dry-lightening-a-concern-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/ferris-fire-grows-to-nearly-48000-acres-dry-lightening-a-concern-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Ferris Fire northwest of Dolores grows to nearly 51,622 acres"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The Ferris Fire was 22% contained as of Monday. (Courtesy of Ferris Fire Information on Facebook)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Isolated storms fanned the Ferris Fire on Monday, pushing flames up a canyon and scorching several thousand more acres northwest of Dolores. The blaze put up a billowing column of smoke that could be seen from tens of miles away.<\/p>\n

On the ground, firefighters installed sprinkler systems around homes in evacuation Zones 7 and 8 and removed light vegetation and other flammable materials to help protect structures from advancing flames, according to Facebook updates from the Ferris Fire Information page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Zones 13 and 14 in Cahone\/Dove Creek were moved to \u201cGet Set\u201d evacuation status. Residents in those zones were advised to be ready to evacuate at a moment\u2019s notice.<\/p>\n

Outflow winds from passing storms drove the fire up a side canyon north of County Road P near Cahone and along the western rim of the Dolores River Canyon. That prompted firefighters to take a defensive posture by removing vegetation and working to hold the fire within containment lines.<\/p>\n

Crews also conducted daytime firing operations \u2012 essentially setting their own fires ahead of the blaze to remove vegetation and starve the fire of fuels \u2012 along the western rim in a side canyon north of Bradfield Bridge and east of Cahone in Division J.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy burning on our terms and on our timetable they are working to prevent the wildfire from roaring up from the main canyon below and sending embers ahead of the flame front,\u201d a post from Ferris Fire Information said. \u201cBy burning in daylight with lots of resources, we maintain more control over the situation than we would if we waited until nightfall.\u201d<\/p>\n

To the north, firing operations along National Forest Service Road 504 strengthened containment lines in the Glade, where heavy equipment has widened roads and reduced flammable material. Along the fire\u2019s northeastern edge, crews secured direct lines and prepared National Forest Service Road 240 north of the Glade Ranch subdivision. Southwest and eastern edges remained calm while being monitored.<\/p>\n

Efforts to strengthen containment lines on the Ferris Fire continued as firefighters and personnel braced for hot and dry conditions and possible high winds and dry lightening from distant thunderstorms.<\/p>\n

The fire burns primarily on Bureau of Land Management land with limited activity on private property. No structures have been reported destroyed by the blaze.<\/p>\n

A total of 539 firefighters and other personnel were assigned to the fire, with that number expected to grow. A new team is taking over the fire\u2019s management Tuesday morning, when San Juan Team 8 Type 3 Management Team hands over management to a Complex Incident Management Team from California. A fire update from San Juan Team 8 said the new team will bring additional resources and logistical support.<\/p>\n

The new team will move the command post from the Dolores Fire Station to Montezuma-Cortez High School.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe San Juan Team 8 management team is done after tonight, but we are staying together as a team,\u201d San Juan Team 8 spokesman Andy Lyon told The<\/em> Journal<\/em> on Monday. \u201cIf we do get a new fire or two, we\u2019re going to go back out and respond and help organize the response to those new fires. It\u2019s not like we\u2019re going away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Areas in \u201cGo \u2013 evacuate now\u201d status include Glade Ranch in Zone 1, Ryman Creek in Zone 2, Zone 7, Zone 8 and Zone 10, which includes County Road 15 east to Canyon Rim. \u201cGet Set\u201d zones include 5 and 3, and \u201cGet Ready to evacuate\u201d include Groundhog in Zone 4, Zone 9 and Zone 12.<\/p>\n

\"An
An updated map shows evacuation zones, color coded by their status.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

An interactive evacuation map is available online at tinyurl.com\/FerrisFireEvacMap<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Forecasts for dry lightening was a concern for crews at the beginning of this week.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never how much lightning and where you\u2019re going to get it until you get it, but it certainly is a big concern,\u201d Lyon said. \u201cThe main concern is that we get a new fire somewhere else on the forest or in the desert while we\u2019re already dealing with one big fire \u2026 we\u2019re not expected to get any rain out of these and, all of a sudden, we could have a second, even a third fire somewhere else in the area, which means we have to divert resources to deal with that. It\u2019s a big concern today and tomorrow (Monday and Tuesday).\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sunday, crews on the north and west flanks of the fire used strategic burns to widen dozer lines and clear vegetation with the goal of shielding homes and infrastructure, the San Juan Team 8 fire update shared. On the west rim of the Dolores River Canyon, firefighters secured lines with dozers and burnout operations from Road M. 9 to the Dolores River Canyon Overlook. In Division A, the fire crossed National Forest Service Road 270 but has not reached the fire line at the National Forest Service Road 504.<\/p>\n

Aircraft assigned to the fire \u2013 helicopters, Super Scoopers and tankers \u2013 dropped 142,000 gallons of water and fire retardant on the blaze, and heavy smoke was credited with helping limit the spread in some areas.<\/p>\n

\"A
A map provided by San Juan Team 8 shows operations in progress on the fire.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

On Monday, as the fire advances southwest in Cabin Canyon, crews have constructed indirect fire lines in Division O, above the evacuation area in Zone 10. They are also building direct and indirect lines around Forest Road 240 to protect the Glade Ranch subdivision and other nearby private lands.<\/p>\n

Crews prepared log decks with dozers for burnout operations in Division A, if conditions allow, and are working to strengthen lines in Division Z with the goals of reaching patrol status by Tuesday.<\/p>\n

To prepare for potential spread from a side canyon between County Road P and M. 9, line improvements and structure protection are the focus for Divisions O, J and C. The release warned that residents in Division J may experience disruptions in power.<\/p>\n

A temporary flight restriction is still in place over the fire and McPhee Reservoir, prohibiting private aircraft and drones from flying while aircraft focused on fire mitigation and water resources.<\/p>\n

bduran@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blaze was 22% contained following Monday\u2019s mitigation efforts <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":137771,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[1820,837,28,60,29,199,6419,84],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-137770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-dh-trueanthem","tag-dolores-county","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter","tag-san-juan-national-forest","tag-tj-trueanthem","tag-wildfire"],"acf":[],"author_name":"Website Administrator","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137770"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":137829,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137770\/revisions\/137829"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137770"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=137770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}