On Monday, Day Five of the Bircher Fire, the economic impact on the Mancos Valley depended on your business and your location.

Pete Loyd, owner of P & D Grocery, saw no impact so far, but expects "It will come in six weeks," especially if there is a long delay in re-opening Mesa Verde National Park.

Jan Lee reported there had been no dropoff in people visiting her White Buffalo shop. Joan Brind’Amour described the change at the Absolute Bakery & Café as one of pattern rather than quantity — customers were coming in later in the morning.

Closer to the park — and to the fire — the picture was different. Ray Huseby, A & A Campground proprietor, said, "Yesterday we had a mass evacuation" as a result of smoke settling in the campground. "(There are a) lot of people canceling," even into early August.

He reminds callers of other attractions in the area and of Mancos Days this weekend, urging them to "call us in a couple of days."

ARA Mesa Verde Company, which runs Far View Lodge, Far View Terrace, Spruce Tree Terrace and several facilities at Morefield Campground — all within the park — is largely shut down as long as the park is closed.

Some of their summer employees, especially those who were scheduled to leave in August, have already pulled up stakes and left the area. Others are waiting to see how events develop.

Judith Swain, ARA marketing director, said her staff is "furiously relocating" people who had planned to use ARA facilities. She praised the help she’s gotten from local lodgers and others: "The entire community has stepped forward to the plate."