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July 26, 2000 4
p.m. update: By Jim Mimiaga "Each story we tell, such as that of fire, will help to bring positive awareness to Mesa Verde," said Larry Wiese, superintendent of Mesa Verde National Park. Now that the flames have subsided somewhat, Wiese is considering the positives in the midst of the natural disaster. He believes the fire and its charred wake can be a "new focus" for park visitors to experience in addition to the ruins, a kind of real-life, fire-science laboratory. "There is a lot to learn from this, and we will be marketing it as another attraction," Wiese said. "We've already received a lot of calls from people interested in that aspect of it." Once the park reopens, Wiese said "It will be very dramatic for people who have been here before. From the boundary to the main cliff ruins we will be able to tell the story of fire and how it affects the environment." He noted that all of the major sites in the park are still intact, such as Cliff Palace, Balcony House, Spruce Tree and Long House, but that visitors driving up will clearly see the blackened remains caused by the Bircher Fire. 2 p.m. update: By Jenn Ooton A Burned Area Emergency Rehabilitation team composed of 12 resource specialists from the Parks Service, Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs joined firefighters and archaeologists at the Bircher Fire Wednesday. The BAER team will assess the more than 23,000 acres already burned by the Bircher Fire and will eventually make recommendations for treatments to the area that will protect life and property and will help control erosion and prevent floods. Hal Luedtke, an operations specialist for the fire on the BAER team, explained that all of the BAER members are card-carrying firefighters, but the team will begin their evaluations in areas that have already burned. "We’ll start at the cold end of the fire and work our way to the hot end." he said. 1
p.m. update: By Matt Gleckman Gov. Bill Owens has declared Montezuma County a disaster area in an effort to free up state resources, personnel and money to help extinguish the fire rampaging across private, tribal and park land. Montezuma County commissioners made a county disaster area declaration Monday and asked Owens to do the same at the state level. Owens’ official designation came late Monday evening, according state media spokesperson Amy Sampson. Incident Command Spokesperson Justin Dombrowski said, "The disaster area declaration) provides an open door for extra support." This includes National Guard crews with equipment as well as possible financial support, Dombrowski said. The National Guard crews have been using their equipment to help transport firefighters to remote areas of the of the Bircher Fire. City Manager Hal Shepherd said Wednesday morning that the state would not be responsible for providing a great deal of economic assistance to the city. "We would have to get a federal disaster declaration from the president before we could get much economic relief," said Shepherd. "We will have to seek out other channels." Strong winds propel northern portion of fire By Matt Gleckman Winds in excess of 50 miles per hour Tuesday evening helped to magnify the northern section of the Bircher Fire and turned the air around Cortez into an eye-burning haze of smoke and ash. Onlookers lined Highway 160 and County Road H to watch the fire's progress down the front face of the mesa. By bedtime, the winds calmed, the fire died down, and the air cleared once more. At 6 p.m. Tuesday, officials estimated that the fire had consumed 22,667 acres of National Park, BLM, private and Ute Mountain Ute Land. With a little cooperation from Mother Nature, who provided a slight increase in humidity as well as a wind change on Tuesday, firefighters were able to increase containment around the Bircher Fire to 25 percent. Mike Lohrey, whose Type I Interagency Fire Management Team is in charge of the fire, said that more aggressive attacks would be made against the blaze on Wednesday. Tuesday's stormy weather also fanned the Hovenweep Fire, which remained well controlled, and sparked a lightning-strike fire on Haycamp Mesa. On Wednesday morning fire managers planed to utilize available helicopters and air tankers to make a number of water and retardant drops on the fire's north flank. More than 770 firefighters and support personnel as well as 21 hand crews, 39 fire engines, six bulldozers, three helicopters and up to two air tankers have been assigned to the Bircher Fire. On Tuesday, Gov. Bill Owens declared Montezuma County as a disaster area. The declaration is expected to help free up more resources and personnel to assist with the blaze. |
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