Law-enforcement, government, National Park Service and Forest Service officials gathered at Cortez City Hall Tuesday night to put a stop to rumors and discuss points of contention regarding the Bircher Fire.

The fire review committee, composed of Sheriff Joey Chavez, Mancos Fire Chief Lyle Cox, county commissioners Kelly Wilson and Kent Lindsay, Mesa Verde Superintendent Larry Wiese, County Administrator Tom Weaver, Cortez City Manager Hal Shepherd, Colorado State Forest Service representative Kent Grant and U.S. Forest Service and BLM representative Cal Joyner, were joined by a small subdued crowd during the presentation.

Those officials attended a lively meeting in Mancos the night before, but left Cortez without having to field many critical questions.

Following the meeting committee members joked with Chavez — asking him to "fire a few rounds through the building — just to liven things up."

Grant, who narrated the presentation, said that the goals of the investigation committee were to uncover facts, assemble a timeline for the fire, recommend future improvements and present their finding to the local communities.

Through those findings, the committee hoped to quash rumors and find answers to questions about firefighting tactics which were debated while the fire burned.

• Was there a delay in response?

• Could the fire have been contained by a bulldozer in its initial phase?

• Was the Mancos Volunteer Fire Department dismissed from the fire?

• Were archaeological concerns overriding fire suppression efforts?

• Was the fire allowed to burn to find more archaeological sites?

• Was there a lull in fire suppression on July 21 that increased the spread of the fire?

• Was fire suppression lost due to downtime during the transition between teams?

• How extreme were the burning conditions and what effect did fire behavior have on suppression activities?

• The report dealt with the last question first, to set the context in which the fire suppression occurred.

The region was experiencing "extreme fire conditions," characterized by unusually low relative humidity, above-average temperatures, extremely dry fuels, and persistent winds. The result was fire behavior that was described as a "torching, crowning, roaring fire" — a dangerously volatile condition.

The short answer to the first five questions was: "No."

Radio logs revealed the Mancos Fire Department responded to each fire call (July 15 and July 20) within about 27 minutes.

It was also determined that the fire on July 20 began roughly 400 feet to the south and west of the July 15 fire — proving that the Mancos Fire Department had fully extinguished the earlier blaze.

The review committee found "no evidence to support allegations that the Mancos Fire Department failed to properly extinguish the tree fire" of July 15.

The committee also reported that, contrary to popular belief, a county bulldozer operator who was attempting to cut a line around the fire was stopped for safety reasons — not because of Mesa Verde National Park regulations banning bulldozes from operating on park property.

"The bulldozer operator had no protective clothing, no fire shelter and no roll-over equipment," Grant said.

He added that the bulldozer was cutting random lines and was surrounded by fire on both sides. Where the dozer allegedly could have contained the fire if allowed to proceed another 200 yards, the committee found two deep ravines, one 43 feet deep and 46 feet across at the top.

It was estimated that it would have taken the bulldozer 30 to 40 minutes to cross the ravine.

The safety of the dozer operator was the biggest concern. Archaeology was never an element in the decision, the report said.

The committee found that "redirecting the dozer operations ... was for the safety and protection of the dozer operator. Archaeology was never an element of this issue." The report also states, "given the topography and rate of spread, the dozer could not have stopped the Bircher Fire."

The report is more ambiguous on the role of the volunteer fire departments.

The report says "The Volunteer Fire Departments either left or were absorbed into the fire management structure. There were no dismissals of any of the volunteer fire crews."

However, it also says, "Integration of the Volunteer Fire Departments was difficult. Some refused to accept the new leadership and went about continuing to protect structures."

During the Mancos town meeting Monday, Dick Simmons and others questioned that language on the grounds that it implied "they didn’t want to put the fire out." Simmons questioned whether improvements could be made in relationships between departments and agencies.

Cox of the Mancos Fire Department said Monday night that the local firefighters were exhausted by Friday, July 22. Dan Ochocki of the Colorado State Forest Service said that one of the implications of the review is that more interagency training, communication and cooperation are needed.

The review of fire-management policies as they relate to archaeological resources concluded: "Allegations that the National Park Service allowed the Bircher Fire to burn for the specific purpose of discovering new sites are unfounded."

In their discussion, the committee noted that exposing ruins through fire also exposes them to increased damage through wind and rain erosion and human impact and is not an acceptable preservation strategy.

However, the committee did find one area where some second-guessing seemed justified: There was "a lull during fire-suppression activities on the morning of the 21st to ensure firefighter safety."

The report said that on July 21, a Type II team had taken control of the fire. However, the Type III team commander had sent firefighters onto the fire line.

After reviewing the dangerous terrain, the Type II team pulled the firefighters back off the line.

It was the findings of the review committee that a clear transition of leadership had not taken place.

"Transition periods are the most dangerous times to be fighting a fire," Wiese said.

The park superintendent added that leadership responsibilities are supposed to be transferred when a fire is "signed over" to the new incident command chief.

Their explanation of this — that it was a time during which to locate and rest firefighters and to plan strategy — did not sit well with some in the Mancos audience.

Rich Sousanes wanted to know, "Who was the quarterback?" He also wanted to know why the ground crew did not go out until 10:05 a.m. on Friday, July 21, stating he was told they were waiting for an archaeologist.

He rejected the idea that archaeology was not a factor in the fire-suppression activity and pledged to work to change the law to include the wording "except in the case of wildland fires."

Simmons wanted to know why tankers didn’t arrive on Friday, July 21, until late in the morning. Others charged that planes were sitting on the ground in Durango, waiting to go, and were not allowed to attack the fire.

The committee recommended that agencies work on communication, speaking the same language, equipment readiness, integrated training among local fire-protection districts and county personnel, and stepping up protection based on environmental warnings.