RSSBlaze erupts near De Beque
A wildfire sparked by lightning burns Wednesday north of the Bookcliffs and southwest of De Beque. Officials scrambled to try to warn anyone who might be living in the area between the fast-moving flames and De Beque.
QUICKREAD
Fireworks sparks fire in Glenwood
A Glenwood Springs wildfire started by fireworks burned about two acres Wednesday and threatened structures before being brought under control, authorities say.
The fire started about 6 p.m. along the Roaring Fork River below the Glenwood Park subdivision.
“It was threatening multiple structures but we’ve got it knocked down. The structures are not at risk any more,” acting Glenwood fire chief Gary Tillotson said before 7 p.m.
He said the occupants of two homes had evacuated but returned to their homes. The department had plenty of resources to do mop-up work on the fire, he said.
Police chief Terry Wilson said two male juveniles, each about 17 years old, are believed to have set off the fireworks. One was arrested and the second detained.
He said the two reportedly tried to put out the fire themselves but it raced up the riverbank toward the homes. Fortunately, there weren’t the kind of winds that have been frequent in recent weeks, he said.
“This was an extremely close call,” he said.
Both Wilson and Tillotson said the incident serves as a warning of the danger of fireworks, which are currently banned from use in Colorado due to the dry conditions.
“This is going to be a long Fourth of July if people continue to illegally play with fireworks,” Tillotson said.
— Dennis Webb
A fast-moving wildfire near De Beque sent authorities scrambling to ensure people were out of harm’s way as a host of local, state and federal agencies ordered heightened fire restrictions around the region.
The lightning-sparked Pine Ridge Fire had burned 500 to 700 acres on the north side of the Bookcliffs and southwest of De Beque by Wednesday night and was growing rapidly, the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management office said.
About seven structures were threatened, although no information was available about whether they were dwellings.
Almost 100 firefighters were fighting the blaze, aided by three helicopters and an air tanker flown by a Canadian crew, the Fire Management office said.
Evacuation orders issued Wednesday afternoon had been lifted, officials said. They were trying to figure out the best way to manage the fire, which was burning in rugged, remote terrain.
The fire triggered the closure of V.2 Road west of De Beque. Chris Joyner, a spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management, said the fire’s behavior was “extreme.”
The Mesa County Sheriff’s Department attempted to contact any residents who might be in the Mustang Ranch subdivision, a collection of dirt plots with no permanent structures. Sheriff’s spokeswoman Heather Benjamin said there may be camp trailers in the area but that deputies didn’t expect them to be occupied.
The fire sent up a plume of gray and black smoke that was visible in the Grand Valley.
While the blaze joined others raging on the Front Range and a few starting in select spots on the Western Slope, several agencies took action Wednesday to try to limit new starts.
Montrose County, the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management ordered or extended their bans to the higher Stage 2 restrictions.
The Forest Service enacted the restrictions for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison national forests, while Colorado State Parks issued restrictions at Crawford, Navajo, Paonia, Ridgway and Sweitzer Lake state parks.
Meanwhile, the BLM upgraded restrictions on lands in Delta, Gunnison, Montrose, Saguache, San Miguel and Ouray counties. It also imposed Stage 1 restrictions in Hinsdale and San Juan counties.
“At the beginning of the month, county, state and federal officials determined a need for stage-one fire restrictions at lower elevations due to the drought,” Barbara Sharrow, BLM Uncompahgre field manager, said in a statement. “As the dry conditions persist, we are expanding fire restrictions throughout the Uncompahgre and Gunnison field offices with exemptions to allow industry operations to continue.”
Carbondale has issued similar restrictions.
Mesa County Sheriff Stan Hilkey issued a fire ban in late May.
The heightened restrictions come on the heels of last week’s Stage 2 fire bans in the White River National Forest and on Colorado National Monument.
The restrictions, more extensive than Stage 1 limits, ban all campfires, charcoal grilling and outdoor coal- and wood-burning stoves.
The restrictions also limit cigarette smoking to inside structures or vehicles, operating a chainsaw without an approved spark arrester and fire extinguisher, operating any torch device such as a welding tool, or using a motorized vehicle off established roads, trails or parking areas.
The use of fireworks, fuses, blasting caps, flares or other incendiary devices is always prohibited on federal lands.
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