Pony Fire spreads

Pony Fire spreads

August 6, 2000

By Gail Binkly
Journal Managing Editor

After swelling substantially on Friday and closing Mesa Verde National Park, the Pony Fire slowed its advance Saturday, growing approximately 900 acres to a total of 4,400, according to fire information officer Joe Colwell.

As of Sunday morning, it was considered 5 percent contained, he said. A firefighting force of approximately 300 is now involved, he said, with 100 firefighters having come in Saturday night from Alaska.

Four helicopters, nine engines and three tankers were being employed. The fire, which started with a lightning strike Wednesday afternoon on a remote, roadless section of the Ute Mountain Ute Reservation, devoured some 3,000 acres Friday, creeping over the park boundary into Wetherill Mesa and forcing the closure of the park.

Mesa Verde had just reopened Friday morning after two weeks of closure because of the 23,000-acre Bircher Fire.

On Saturday, especially during the cooler morning hours, crews maintained a heavy air attack against the blaze, Colwell said, using drops of fire retardant and water to defend ruins and structures within the national park. On Friday, the blaze burned some day-use structures on Wetherill Mesa, ³probably picnic tables and signs,² Colwell said. There were reports that flames had reached Long House Ruin, but some crews checked and found it undamaged, he said. ³The big emphasis is on protection of structures on Chapin Mesa < the (park employees¹) residences and the museum,² he said.

Crews are clearing brush there and an engine is stationed in case the flames get near. With the weather forecast for continued heat unrelieved by rain, Colwell said, crews will continue to focus on air drops to check the blaze. ³Line work hasn¹t been the emphasis,² he said, because of the fire¹s volatility and the steep, treacherous terrain. ³I¹ve seen some videos of it and, my gosh, that¹s rugged country,² Colwell said.

On Friday, the fire traveled mostly to the east, but on Saturday it moved southward, fanned by winds from the north. ³The concern is if it gets down into the canyons it snakes around and might make a run up the next canyon and gradually creep to the east,² Colwell said. ³It¹s very unpredictable.²

Archaeologists are concerned not only about the ruins in the national park, but about lesser-known ruins in the Ute Mountain Tribal Park. While fire probably would do little damage to those ancient ruins, Colwell said, archaeologists fear that subsequent rains could cause severe erosion once the protective vegetation is burned off. However, no one has been able to examine the damage on the ground yet, he said. Mesa Verde remains closed.