As fire commanders make a routine switch of personnel, active rainfall offers a convenient slowdown of the Stoner Mesa Fire’s pace, in addition to some cautionary steps for firefighters.
With fire-suppressing rains come other risks. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for the Western Slope region that includes Stoner Mesa, starting from 6 a.m. this morning up until the evening.
In his morning update, Operations Section Chief trainee Matt Weakland said that the rainfall has “created some significant access issues” for firefighters, with a portion of Colorado Highway 145 closed off by mudslides yesterday. Lesser-used access roads into the fire area also will be delayed because of the rain, he said.
Weakland said that the fire area received a half-inch of rain Monday.
The fire ha scorched 10,249 acres, having increased marginally by only 6 acres since Monday’s measure, according to a news release Tuesday from fire officials. The fire is at 42% containment.
At 8 p.m. Tuesday, Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1 will officially transfer command back to the previously operating San Juan Team 8.
Crews will spend the day conducting assessments of pumps along waterways, on the lookout for creek flooding. Crews will move along County Road 38 and Colorado Highway 145 to assess road conditions and installed equipment.
Improvement on fire lines will depend on rain and flood risk. The day will be especially wet, with an additional one-third of an inch of rainfall anticipated.
