Extreme weather conditions have prevented firefighters from extinguishing three San Juan National Forest fires that started in Montezuma and Dolores counties on Saturday.
San Juan National Forest spokeswoman Lorena Williams said the Ferris Fire in Montezuma and Dolores counties had grown to 250 acres by 6 p.m. Saturday. It and the Far Draw and Doe fires in Dolores County are burning in the Glade area of the San Juan National Forest.
Williams said the Ferris Fire is located in the area along Lone Dome Road, about two miles west of Ferris Canyon Campground and northeast of Pleasant View, according to Watch Duty.
The Far Draw Fire located in Narraguinnep Canyon is burning across 100 acres and the Doe Fire is burning about four acres as of Saturday evening.
Evacuation areas include Lone Dome Road, Bradfield Bridge Campground and National Forest System Road 521 Road up to McPhee Dam. Williams said crews are working on closing Bradfield Bridge Campground, which will include National Forest System Road 504 South to the base of McPhee Dam, and are doing a safety sweep on roads 521 and 504.
“If you are in that area (Bradfield Bridge Campground), LEAVE NOW, using roads to head west out of the area,” a post by the Montezuma County Colorado Facebook page said.
All evacuees are welcome to shelter at the Pleasant View Fire Station, 15235 Road CC.
Though dry lightening is thought to be to blame for the start of the Ferris Fire, Far Draw Fire and Doe Fire, according to multiple posts on Facebook from outlets such as the U.S. Forest Service, a cause has not been confirmed, Williams said.
The San Juan Type 3 Incident Management Team will take command of the fires this evening.
“We had firefighters on scene of these incidents earlier in the day, but we've been forced to pull resources off the line due to extreme fire behavior and very dangerous conditions,” Williams said.
She said extremely high winds forced aircraft to be grounded, and a team in Dolores is planning how to extinguish the fires.
“With the extreme fire behavior, we're not able to put firefighters on the ground to fight fires at this time,” she said.
The blazes erupted after the USDA Forest Service issued an extreme fire risk level warning for eastern Utah and western Colorado Saturday morning.
“While much of Southwest Colorado received measurable rainfall Friday, these isolated storms do not have lasting impacts when followed by days of high temperatures and very high winds,” they said.
The Forest Service added in a separate post that multiple agencies across Southwest Colorado have been responding to lightening-caused fires since yesterday, and more are expected to ignite.
More detailed information is expected from San Juan National Forest Saturday night.
This is a developing story. For updates, go to www.the-journal.com.
bduran@the-journal.com
