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June 26, 2001
By Aspen C. Emmett A fire that started at the "knee" of the Sleeping Ute Mountain on Sunday came close to the Ute Mountain tribe’s annual Sundance ceremony, a gathering of several hundred people on the mountain. Participants were not evacuated, but the fire did disrupt the three-day, four-night event, tribal officials said. By Monday afternoon, the fire was 85 percent contained, and fire crews were mopping up the area. "We just want to make sure it doesn’t take off again," said Don Thomas, a helitack-crew member. The fire started on Sunday afternoon in a drainage below the Ute Mountain and climbed up a ridge toward the gathering, which was taking place in a meadow on the other side of the ridge. According to Myron Baker, the tribe’s assistant fire-management officer, the fire’s cause has yet to be determined. One tribal official speculated that it might have been started by two young boys at the bottom of the drainage. Baker said the fire was feeding on thick oak brush on the top of the mountain and would likely have gone out of control if the winds had been any stronger over the weekend. According to Ann Bond, fire information officer for the Durango interagency fire dispatch center, the blaze required two helicopters from Mesa Verde National Park and Towaoc, two fire engines and 60 firefighters to bring the blaze under control. On Monday, firefighters estimated the fire had consumed 20 to 22 acres. No structures were threatened, and no one was injured by the blaze. Two interagency hot-shot crews, the Alpines and the Roosevelts, and one tribal crew, the Ute Mountain Warriors, responded to the fire. |
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Copyright © 2001 the Cortez Journal.
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