On Monday night, several dozen people gathered at the West Fork Volunteer Fire Department off County Road 38 for the second such public meeting on the Stoner Mesa Fire, scorching nearly 9,000 acres as of Tuesday morning, with a reminder that along with progress comes the fire’s changing state.
“Folks on the ground have made a lot of good progress over the last few days,” said Nick Mustoe, Dolores District ranger, who pointed to advantages such as more consistent wind direction and fewer windy days.
“That said, it’s really important that we don’t get complacent out there,” Mustoe said.
While extensive containment lines have been laid down, properties placed in protective status and 670 personnel reported to be working on the fire, shifting weather conditions put more pressure on containment.
“The hotter, drier weather will be a test of some of those lines and the work that has been done,” said a Tuesday morning news release from Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1.
At 7 p.m. on Monday evening, Road 38 from the Dolores County Line up to Navajo Trailhead were placed on “Ready” evacuation status.
For nearby residents like Chris Edelen, a board member with the WFVFD, the risk posed by the fire is a reality, although he says he feels reassured by the work he’s seen from firefighters.
Edelen says he lives in the small community of Blue Spruce Glen just off County Road 38, which is about 2 miles from the fire’s perimeter. Teams have reduced the risk of fire around his property by whacking weeds and trimming trees.
“They come into our neighborhood, they’ve cataloged all the homes, they’ve had teams in here everyday making sure they’re as good as they can get them,” Edelen said.
Edelen said he and his wife have showed their gratitude to the nearby incident camp.
“My wife and I took a bunch of trays of cookies down to the fire camp,” he said. Firefighters were appreciative of the gesture, said Edelen.
For longtime residents, Jeanna and Gordon Kuhlman, who live further from the flames on a ranch in Dolores off of U.S. Highway 145, the fire is also a real threat, but they both say that they’d be ready to evacuate if need be.
“We’ve lived here all our lives,” said Jeanna, 89, standing next to her husband, 95. They said that two neighbors drove them up the road to attend the meeting.
The Kuhlmans also own a cabin along County Road 38, which Gordon says his mother was born in.
Jeanna gave a fire official her home phone number in case they needed to be called for an evacuation.
By Tuesday morning, fire was reported to have moved up the north side of Stoner Creek but reached a smoldering state after consuming heavier fuels, according to a news release. Crews made direct line tied to an existing bulldozer line on the region’s west edge close to Road 335. The area is now in mop-up stage.
Officials say they continue to prioritize protecting structures north of the fire along County Road 38 toward Dunton. But, they say predictive modeling suggests a low likelihood of the fire reaching the road.
East of the fire, closer to Rico, roads opened for fire access are still being cleared of debris, while spot fires that started in the area are in a mop up stage and patrols are underway to monitor a fire line present. Officials report that they may conduct some controlled burnings in the area to reduce the future chances of spot fires.
West of the fire, atop Stoner Mesa, dozers work on indirect lines to contain the chance of a spread emerging out of Stoner Canyon. Some controlled burns are also taking place to support line construction south of Sunshine Reservoir along the Stoner Mesa Trail.
South of the fire, scouting takes place for containment lines in Stoner Canyon and on Taylor Mesa. Heavy equipment used fort more line building will be entering the area on Road 201. Lines are being built on Roads 210 and 547 for the next several days.
Hot and dry conditions are reported for today. Days ahead are expected to have low relative humidity, high temperatures in the afternoon and minimal cloud cover.
Further ahead for the remaining week, some increases in relative humidity and cloud are expected, with possible afternoon thunderstorms.
Air quality from smoke is expected to be moderate to unhealthy in the mornings for Cortez and Dolores, but typically improve during the day.
“All the way from Cortez to Dove Creek we’ve been seeing a lot of unhealthy for sensitive groups and even a few hours of unhealthy (air quality),“ said Mark Struthwolf, an air resource adviser.
“Fortunately, it doesn’t last that long,” said Struthwolf, who added that these air quality index levels are typically present at night. Shifting winds from the day improve air quality levels, he said.
