As the Stoner Mesa Fire reached 7,100 acres, firefighters continued working to keep flames from spilling over into Colorado Highway 145 to the south and County Road 38 to the west, with helicopter water bucket drops coming in handy, according to a news release from Wednesday morning.
Crews carry on combating the fire as a transition from San Juan Team 8 to Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1 is set for 7 p.m., but fire managers say that the switch won’t disrupt any coordination that’s already been in place.
“We’re ordering the next level of complex incident management teams to help us integrate and step up,” said San Juan Team 8 Incident Commander Pat Seekins during a public meeting Tuesday evening.
“Should be a very smooth transition with us and them,” he said.
Seekins said that all information is passed over smoothly to the incoming team.
With aid from helicopter water bucket drops, firefighter crews reported halting the fire’s spread along the Stoner Mesa trail and the 535 Road Tuesday, while dozer lines are planned ahead to protect County Road 38.
Plans are underway to get a dozer up on Stoner Mesa for planned lines east of the fire, moving from there in a southwest direction.
San Juan Team 8 Operations Chief Brad Pietruszka said during yesterday’s meeting that the fire’s pace is likely to change atop the mesa, switching from mixed conifer to relatively young aspen trees, he said, which aren’t burning at quite the same pace.
“Once it's up top on Stoner Mesa, things get pretty different,” Pietruszka said.
To the fire’s south, crews suppressed numerous spot fires between Taylor Mesa Road and Taylor Creek Road Tuesday as well.
In the meantime, San Juan Hotshot crew members worked on fireline south near Priest Gulch Tuesday.
Work moves forward on assessing plans for Rico, with plans underway to divert flames from the town in case the fire enters. Structure Group 145 moves along the stretch of highway in between Rico and Stoner to continue assessing properties at risk.
Structure Group 38 have completed their assessments in the Dunton Ranch area and now plan to move further south on County Road 38 beginning with Johnny Bull Creek.
“We’ve had some big fire days growth,” said Seekins. “Its gonna be challenging and its gonna be likely on the landscape for a while.
“What we strive to do is be proactive, not reactive.”
