Crews working on the Elkhorn Fire have had some unexpected visitors – black bears.
John Livingston, spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, said several reports of bears sniffing around firetrucks and firefighter camps have been called into the agency, prompting CPW to work alongside the multiple agencies working to contain the blaze.
“We’ve gotten a couple heads-up from the crews working up there and from the incident commanders about a little bit of bear activity,” he said.
He said crews reported seeing bear footprints in the ash and dirt on top of fire trucks and that they have seen the animals around their base camp at Animas Valley Elementary School. In one instance, he said crews heard a firetruck alarm go off after a bear tried to get into the vehicle.
The fact that bears have been nosing around fire camps and trucks is not surprising to Livingston, though, mainly because where the fire started is an ideal place for bears to make their homes.
“Missionary Ridge is really great bear habitat,” he said. “There is forage available for bears, so it’s not totally surprising to see that firefighters are running into them every now and again. We did run them some bear spray cans yesterday, so their crews have those if needed.”
Even though CPW supplied fire crews with bear spray, Livingston does not expect crews to encounter aggressive bears; the spray is just a backup for the worst case scenario, he said.
“We haven’t seen any aggressive behavior or a real big property damage or anything caused by any of the bears they’ve been in contact with,” he said. “But just a good thing for them to be aware of.”
Livingston said that bears and other wildlife that were pushed out by the Elkhorn Fire are sometimes put in closer proximity with people than they normally would be. Thankfully, he said, there have not been any bears or other animals that were trapped by the fire that CPW needed to rescue.
“Most animals are ahead of the game, and they’re just as aware of the smoke and the fire as we are, if not more so,” he said. “With the high density of bears that we know we have up in that area, there’s been some displacement from their natural habitat.”
As the bears were forced to move away from their normal territory, Livingston said, they were likely lured to the firefighters by enticing smells of things like food, garbage, scented chapstick and sunscreen.
“They’re just curious, and their nose leads them looking for food,” he said. “Even something like sunscreen or chapstick. If they have a scent to them, that’ll attract a bear sniffing around a car for something they think might be food.”
Livingston said everyone should take precautions to minimize bear-human interactions. Those include buying a bear-proof trash can; not leaving trash for pickup out over night; putting bird feeders and pet food inside and not leaving smelly items inside cars.
“We really want to keep bears out of trouble, so remove those food attractants and secure our doors,” he said.
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
