Firefighters battling the Ferris Fire on the Dolores Ranger District gained ground Sunday by establishing an anchor point near the base of what was the Doe Canyon Fire.
Three separate fires – the Far Draw Fire, Doe Canyon Fire and Ferris Fire – merged Sunday and spread across San Juan National Forest to nearly 16,000 acres in size as of noon Monday.
The wildfire is located in the Glade Area near Narraguinnep Canyon, about 15 miles northwest of Dolores.
Sunday’s progress could lead to more aggressive suppression tactics Monday in which fire crews work to build a western containment line.
Morning winds were lighter Monday, according to Donna Nemeth, a spokesperson with the San Juan National Forest, and could allow for support from air operations.
“As the winds pick up, the temperatures warm, and if it becomes unsafe for them to go direct, they will back off and use indirect tactics,” Nemeth said.
The Ferris Fire was zero percent contained as of Monday. Nemeth said no structures had been lost.
Nearly 100 ground personnel were working the blaze with management led by San Juan Team 8, the local Type 3 Incident Management Team, combined with air reconnaissance, three Type 1 helicopters – known as heavies – and one Type 3 helicopter, a lighter model.
The incident team had large air tankers available, not directly assigned to the fire, but ready upon request. San Juan Team 8 continues to prioritize the firefighters’ and public safety, while protecting the values at risk and other resources, Nemeth said.
She said firefighters will be doing structure assessments and potential protection to make them more defensible as needed. Private lands and other infrastructure are located east and north of the fire.
According to a new release, a dozer made progress on the west side of the blazes (Division A) Sunday, anchoring the fire and developing a fireline. That work continued Monday, according to a Ferris Fire news release.
On the northeast side (Division K), crews were working in oak brush to protect structures, including dropping fire retardant as needed. The fire has advanced toward structures, but had not reached private homes or the Benchmark Lookout Tower area.
“We also put some folks in here yesterday and are doing some structure prep around those homes in case the fire makes it there,” said Toby Cook, operations section chief for San Juan Team 8.
Near the east flank of the fire, around Divisions K and Z, activity has been quieter, the release stated. Fire crews planned to dig direct lines in Division Z on Monday, attempting to add containment lines.
“The strong winds we have been getting have certainly made a lot of fire growth the last few days,” Cook said. “Our main concern there is protecting life and property – the primarily thing there being life, and that includes our firefighters. When the winds get too strong, fire activity gets too much (and) we have to pull back and find areas we can keep them safe to work in.”
All three fires roared to life Saturday after suspected lighting strikes. Extreme fire behavior prevented firefighters from engaging the fire directly, though air tankers dropped about a dozen loads of retardant on the southeast flank Saturday. By Sunday morning, the wildfires had crossed Forest Service roads 514 and 493 and expanded in size from about 5,800 acres to more than 10,000 Sunday evening.
Several evacuations remain in effect for parts of Dolores and Montezuma counties. Dolores County issued evacuation orders for the Glade Ranch. The Dolores County Office of the Emergency Management issued a pre-evacuation order due to degrading conditions for parts east of Lone Mesa State Park, east to the Dolores/Norwood Road and north to just below Disappointment Road.
Updates for evacuations are posted on the Dolores County Office of the Emergency Management Facebook page.
Montezuma County has also issued evacuations for private lands in the lower Dolores River corridor from the dam to Bradfield Bridge.
The San Juan National Forest was finalizing an updated closure area, which will be released later Monday and may be found on InciWeb.
Monday’s weather across the Four Corners includes temperatures in the lower-lying valleys expected to reach the mid- to upper-80s, while higher elevations near the Ferris Fire will be in the 70s. Braeden Winters, a National Weather Service forecaster, said conditions remain dry with single-digit relative humidity in some locations. Winds are expected to be breezy with gusts between 25 and 35 mph around the fires. A red flag warning is in effect.
“One thing is tomorrow (Tuesday) we are looking at a little bit higher impact fire weather conditions around the fires,” Winters said. “Nothing like what we saw over the weekend, but still a little bit stronger as compared to what we’ll see today and what we’ll see Wednesday and onward.”
Wind gusts are forecast to reach 40 to 45 mph Tuesday in the fire area.
The stronger winds may begin as early as 8 a.m., though the strongest gusts will occur in the mid-afternoon. Winters said a fire weather watch will be issued for Tuesday.
The forecast through the rest of the week indicates a continuation of the breezy gusts typically between 25 and 35 mph for most days. Hot, dry and windy conditions are expected to persist at least through Friday, and additional fire weather warnings may be issued as the week progresses.
awatson@the-journal.com
