The Burro Fire northeast of Dolores started in the Bear Creek drainage on Friday and has rapidly grown to 1,000 acres.
The main fire is burning in steep spruce-fir timber 5 miles up the Bear Creek trail on the south side of the canyon. On Friday, embers triggered spot fires on the north side of the canyon.
About 130 wildland firefighters are on scene, and there is zero percent containment.
Hand crews on Sunday focused their efforts near roads on the southern end of the fire, where the mixed conifer timber, including dead or fallen ponderosa pine and fir, was more dense. The steep, rugged terrain of the Bear Creek area has limited crews’ mobility.
According to Pat Seekins of the Dolores Ranger District, fire personnel include a fire engine and Hotshot crews from Idaho, Nevada, Montana and Colorado, as well as a smokejumper crew from Idaho. The cause of the fire is unknown and is under investigation. Lightning hit the area on June 3, and is a suspected cause.
The Burro Fire sent up a towering plume of smoke adjacent to the massive plume coming from the 416 Fire, which has scorched 16,000 acres 13 miles away north of Hermosa along U.S. Highway 550.
Beginning Monday, the Burro and 416 Fires will be managed jointly under a Type I firefighting crew, which allows for the highest level of resources, including hand crews, equipment and air support.
A large swath of the San Juan National Forest has been closed due to both fires, including the Colorado Trail from Molas Pass to Junction Creek.
The Roaring Fork, Gold Run and Bear Creek trails, as well as Forest Road 435 and Hillside Road (Forest Service Road 436) were closed Friday. About noon Saturday, the San Juan National Forest expanded the closure area, shutting down a section bounded by the Divide Road (FSR 564), Roaring Fork Road (FSR 435), Scotch Creek Road (FSR 550), Windy Gap Area Road (FSR 350), Spruce Mill Road (FSR 351), and Upper Hay Camp Area Road (FSR 556).
The closure prohibits all public entry into the closed area, including campgrounds, trails, trailheads and National Forest System roads. It will remain in effect until July 31 or until rescinded, though it can be extended because of fire activity. Violations of the closure carry a penalty of at least $5,000 and six months in prison.
The existing order to close the Hermosa Creek watershed remains in effect.
A Stage 3 closure that would close off the entire San Juan National Forest, including all roads and trails, is being considered by forest officials due to the fires and extremely dry conditions.
On the front lines of the fire Sunday along the rim of Bear Creek canyon, wildland firefighters march single file toward the blaze as white smoke billowed into the air and nearby trees ignited into flames, called torching.
Due to the intensity of the fire and the steep, rugged terrain, directly suppressing the fire by hand right now is not an option for safety reasons, said incident commander Jeff Thumm.
Firefighters worked to establish containment lines beginning with an anchor point on the fire’s southwest edge along Forest Road 561, northeast of Transfer Campground. The plan is to create fire breaks to prevent it from spreading west toward the Dolores River where there is private property, and southward onto Haycamp Mesa and the Transfer Park area.
“We’ve located a containment line, and have two dozers arriving Monday to help create a line along the rim of Bear Creek Canyon,” Thumm said. “Once the fire reaches flatter ground, then we can more actively and safely engage it.”
Fire behavior includes single and group tree torching, and limited crown fire activity, he said. On Saturday, crews conducted backfire operations on the canyon rim along Forest Road 561 to eliminate fuel and reinforce the firebreak at the edge of the canyon.
Due to extremely dry fuel conditions, without rain, the fire will continue to grow, Thumm said.
“It will keep going until the monsoons,” he said, which do not typically arrive until July.
Tree moisture was measured at just 80 percent, when normally at this time of year they are at 200 percent, Thumm said. “The trees are stressed and dry, and ready to burn.”
Fire behavior was erratic on Sunday in windy conditions, said Lyle St. Goddard, Superintendent for the Chief Mountain (Montana) Hotshot Crew.
“We’ve initiated a good containment plan,” he said. “The fire is moving toward the southeast and north, and that is a good direction because it is away from the structures along the Dolores River.”
Where the fire spotted across the Bear Creek drainage has the potential to make a significant run into remote forest towards the northeast and northwest. There are no structures or private property in that direction Thumm said, but if needed they would like to minimize fire impacts to a waterway containing a rare greenback trout population.
Fire modeling shows there is potential for the Burro Fire and nearby 416 Fire to merge.
Public Information Officer Stephen Orr said Southwest Colorado is a high priority in the West for wildland firefighting resources due to the extreme drought conditions.
A new specialized medical unit called a Rapid Extraction Module will be arriving at the Burro Fire for firefighting safety.
Air support is available, and will be used when most effective. Dumping fire retardant in thick timber has limited benefits, officials said, because it does not penetrate well.
Joe Rowell Park in Dolores will be filling up with firefighter camps and accommodations in the coming days, said Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin. Dolores High School will be opened for firefighting operations, including an incident command center.
Nowlin said they are contacting residents along Colorado Highway 145 near the fire to advise them to begin thinking about potential pre-evacuation notices.
“We’re telling the public to keep informed and comply with the fire ban and closures,” he said.
There have been no injuries or structures lost due to the Burro Fire.
jmimiaga@the-journal.com