Weakened by late monsoonal rains, the Stoner Mesa Fire no longer poses a severe threat, and although firefighters work to ensure no flames linger, operations have largely wound down.
The lightning-caused fire, first reported July 28, has remained at 10,249 acres since Aug. 26 and was reported by fire officials as 54% contained on Monday.
Firefighters have spent the past week monitoring for flare-ups, stepping back from a time when the flames were more alarming. Personnel assigned to the fire dropped from nearly 600 on Aug. 26 to about 150 on Monday.
In the first week of September, crews removed several thousand feet of hose line from the fire’s eastern edge, took down sprinklers and other equipment from structures along County Road 38, and used a helicopter to haul hardware from atop Taylor Mesa. By week’s end, the once-bustling incident command base at the Montezuma County Fairgrounds returned to its original use.
In true Leave No Trace fashion, fire crews are working to restore the landscape to its less disturbed state by repairing areas affected by suppression activities.
On Sept. 5, fire restrictions on all National Forest System lands within the forest, including wilderness areas, were lifted. But the winding down does not mean all precautions have been dropped.
“Rescinding fire restrictions does not mean that fire danger has been eliminated,” a Sept. 5 news release said. “Rain is effective at improving the moisture content of light vegetation like grasses, but trees and brush require more consistent precipitation to recover from drought conditions.”
Drone flights have been used to continually monitor any lingering flames, officials said. Crews last week extinguished several small fires still burning.
Some previously closed areas have reopened. On Sept. 4, the San Juan National Forest reopened both the Priest Gulch Trail and the Calico Trail for public use.
Despite the relief brought by late monsoonal rains, precipitation has also created challenges.
Fire officials said Monday that muddy conditions prevented crews from repairing parts of the landscape affected by suppression efforts.
Rain forecast from Wednesday through Friday may cause further delays.
