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June 9, 2001 by Janelle Holden A wildfire that broke out Thursday on Haycamp Mesa was a good warm-up for the county’s firefighters. The fire burned 30 acres of Tom Herzog’s land and part of the Lost Canyon Ranch after wind whipped up embers from Herzog’s controlled burn and started the nearby oak brush and piñon-juniper forest on fire. "It originally started out as a barbecue," explained Detective Lt. Kalvin Boggs of the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office. "They (the Herzogs) had made a little fire to grill some steaks and unfortunately placed it too close to some oak brush, and some errant coals started the oak brush, and it turned into a little miniature controlled burn." Remnants from the burn started the fire the next day. Once the blaze got out of control, Dolores Fire Chief Mike Zion called in the Mancos Fire Department and a team from the Dolores Public Lands Center to help battle the burn. A helicopter was also called in from Mesa Verde National Park to drop water on the fire. Zion said the fire was under control by Thursday evening. No structures were threatened by the fire, and none of the firefighters were injured. The fire nearly reached the San Juan National Forest, which was just a quarter of a mile away. Haycamp Mesa is southeast of Dolores. Both Boggs and Zion said the fire was a warning to others considering a controlled burn. Despite a wet spring, conditions in the area are extremely ripe for fire. "With the last three weeks of wind we’ve had, the moisture has just been sucked dry," said Boggs. "If they do burn, they need to do it in the morning, and avoid it on the windy days," advises Zion. No fire bans have been enacted in the county, but Boggs said the sheriff’s office will consider it if the moisture levels get any lower. Zion said any controlled burns in the county should be called in to the Cortez Dispatch Center at 565-8441 before they are started. A lightning strike is believed to be responsible for a forest fire that broke out Friday on the north end of Cherry Creek, west of Hesperus. Butch Knowlton, La Plata County’s director of emergency preparedness, said that at about 2 p.m. Friday the fire covered 11¼2 acres and was growing. Knowlton said that a helicopter was dispatched from Towaoc and units from four fire agencies were responding to the fire. Durango Herald staff writer June Santon contributed to this report.
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Copyright © 2001 the Cortez
Journal. All rights reserved. |
