Firefighters continued this weekend to manage the Long Draw fire, which was caused by a lightning strike east of the Dolores-Norwood Road about 20 miles north of Dolores.
U.S. Forest Service officials said on Monday morning that the fire is not expected to grow, and that no additional controlled burns were planned.
Containment on Monday was 85-90 percent on 2142 acreas, according to the Forest Service.
“No growth is expected on the Long Draw Fire, and the managed fire has stayed inside predetermined boundaries within forest roads,” Ann Bond, a spokeswoman for the Forest Service, said Monday morning.
The Forest Service announced on Sunday morning that no further prescribed burns were planned, and that firefighting personnel would remain on scene to monitor the perimeter of the blaze.
“With the fire at 75 percent completion and no further burn operations planned, the incident will be turned back over to a Type 4 team at end of shift today,” public information officer Lisa Keibler said in an email to The Journal on Sunday.
The Long Draw fire was spotted from a Forest Service lookout tower about 3 p.m. Tuesday, June 21, according to Derek Padilla of the Dolores Ranger District.
It was in a remote area of the San Juan National Forest, and no homes were in danger, the Forest Service said. It burned at 8,200 feet elevation 3 miles southeast of Lone Mesa State Park in Dolores County.
On Saturday, the fire grew to about 300 acres as firefighters set fires in the fire’s interior, Mark Thibideau, a fire prevention technician, said in an email on Saturday. The growth came after a helicopter dropped ping-pong-size balls injected with a mixture that causes them ignite on the ground, he said. The hundreds of small fires that are created were expected to slowly burn together.
On Friday, crews set fires along Forest Road 232-A to confine the Long Draw fire to the planned area.
The Forest Service said that its containment approach will allow fire to play its natural role in the Ponderosa pine ecosystem to make the forest more resilient to fire, insect or disease.
Padilla said the Ponderosa pine ecosystem is developed through a regular fire cycle. Fires eliminate dry pine needles and brush covering the ground, allowing vegetation to grow, he said.
That benefits livestock and wildlife that forage the areas, and allows for other benefits such as water infiltration.
“Fire is part of the natural landscape,” Padilla said. “When conditions allow for fire to play its natural role in a low-intensity fashion, we want to take advantage of that whenever we can.”
In the future, the Long Draw area will provide a place for a high-intensity fire to be reduced, he said, adding that the approach produces more open parklike conditions versus dense overstocked forests.
Responders included the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Upper Pine Fire Department crews. Personnel from Oregon, California, Montana, the San Juan National Forest, Bureau of Land Management and Upper Pine Fire Department will remain on scene of the fire for the next several days, the Forest Service said on .
About 18 firefighters and two fire engines were on the scene at 5 p.m. Wednesday conducting burnout operations to contain the fire within a 2,300-acre area surrounded by forest roads, Padilla said.
Since early last week, firefighters focused operations and patrols along the Cottonwood Road (Forest Road 532), which is east of the compressor station on the Dolores-Norwood Road (Forest Road 526).
Smoke may be seen from County Road 38 and Colorado Highway 145. Travel on roads along the Dolores-Norwood Road should not be affected, except for the four-wheel drive Forest Road 532-A. Roadside signs will alert drivers to fire operations.
For more information, contact the Dolores Ranger District at 970-882-7296.
