Multiple wildfires burn in Colorado amid dry conditions
Hot weather and dry conditions favored wildfires burning on more than 1,250 acres around Colorado on Sunday evening, including fires near where homes have been built in forests northwest of Fort Collins, and southwest of metro Denver near Bailey, where firefighters were deployed to suppress flames.
But a lightning-sparked wildfire that was burning on 846 acres south of Salida above 9,000 feet elevation in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness has been handled to maximize environmental benefits — clearing beetle-ravaged spruce trees.
Federal forest mangers deployed a crew of 50 firefighters to monitor this Decker fire but were letting it burn to boost forest health.
“It is cleaning up a lot of those dead and downed trees. This resets the ecological cycles in the forest,” incident command spokesman Mark DeGregorio said from a base in Salida.
“We will still be monitoring the fire. We’re not going to be suppressing it,” he said, noting cloud cover and humidity late Sunday.
“Out here in the West, fire is part of the ecocycle, always has been part of it. Lightning caused this fire. We’re trying to let it do some good, burn off some beetle kill.”
Southwest of metro Denver near Bailey, 20 firefighters deployed Sunday afternoon to try to douse a wildfire that was burning on about 11 acres. A U.S. Forest Service team assumed command of the fire Sunday evening.
Evacuation notices were sent to residents along Payne Gulch Road and Happy Top within about 2 miles of the fire, according to Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center bulletins. Residents near Glen Isle, Brookside and elsewhere received pre-evacuation notices.
No homes had been threatened directly as firefighting crews from multiple agencies responded.
Northwest of Fort Collins, hot shot ground firefighters teamed with an aerial attack to control a 400-acre fire that started with a burning vehicle and knocked out electricity for an estimated 3,600 residents. The authorities called it the McNay fire and it was burning about 10 miles southwest of Livermore. Firefighters deployed one large air tanker, three single-engine air tankers and a helicopter to try to suppress the flames.
Larimer County authorities recommended evacuation of homes in that area.
Federal firefighting coordinators at the RMACC issued bulletins noting an unusually busy weekend during what traditionally would be late season for wildfires, urging caution.
“Fire season is not over. Please be careful and watch out for wildfire response vehicles,” the latest bulletin said. “One less spark, one less wildfire.”