Local businesses are feeling the heat of area fires.

Business at the Country West Motel in Mancos was "killed by the fire," manager Russ Harris said Monday. Weekend traffic, ordinarily high, was down to a trickle — there were only a few evacuees from Mesa Verde National Park at the 12-room facility. Sunday evening, only one guest stayed.

The motel relies heavily on summer tourist traffic. Harris said that 75 percent or more of his business is seasonal, and he depends on a strong summer to make it through the winter.

"It was bad before the fire," he said, "but then it just absolutely died." As the flames grew higher, he and his staff logged cancellation after cancellation.

The day park officials announced the reopening of Mesa Verde, Harris said his phone "rang off the hook" and raised his hopes. Those hopes were dashed approximately 12 hours later, when the Pony Fire galloped along the edge of Wetherill Mesa, and the park was closed again.

Harris said he is unable to recoup his losses. "The only way I could have recouped is if they could have put their (fire) personnel here, but they chose to put them in Cortez," he said. According to Harris, another motel in Mancos closed completely.

As a back-up plan, Harris said the county needed to promote area tourism — not just Mesa Verde — more. "We need to do something to get the tourists in; we’re so close to so many things. I don’t know if we’re doing anything to promote tourism. It’s really a shame. It’s a beautiful area."

Those concerns are familiar to Rick Bell, manager of Folk Art of the Four Corners. Bell said that business has been "pretty well eliminated. This is like winter." Instead of the busy week he anticipated, on Monday, he had only three people in his shop — two of whom asked for directions.

Bell is being forced to rely on other means to make ends meet, such as doing road shows.

Although he respects the natural power of fire, "that doesn’t help anyone who can’t survive the summer without tourists," Bell said.

He said that state-funded relief is a must for himself and the many business in the area that rely on the summer season.

Bell is appreciative of the work the Chamber of Commerce and Umbrella Tourism Committee have done, but "they can’t make the fire go out." For now, Bell is doing what he can to keep visitors interested in area attractions.

"You try to get across that there are other things to do, but it’s still a disappointment (to tourists)."

Looking to the future, Bell considered the economic possibilities of the recently created and highly controversial Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. "(It) can potentially be as big a draw as Mesa Verde," he said. "It’s a huge plus people aren’t thinking about, but it’s got to be promoted, and there’s got to be an infrastructure."