Several dozen people packed into the Rico Fire Station Tuesday evening for a meeting with officials handling the Stoner Mesa Fire, in turn bracing for the chance of an evacuation and witnessing the confidence of those managing the flames behind the scenes.
As the potent odor of wildfire smoke lingered in the air and the hazy last light of day glared into the crowded fire station, officials – from law enforcement officers to incident commanders – spoke about the fire’s activity, the teams managing the flames and the real, yet uncertain, possibility of evacuation.
By Tuesday, the lightning strike-caused fire, first reported on July 28, had grown to more that 6,600 acres and put the small mountain town of Rico, home to about 300 people, on “Ready” to evacuate status.
The fire has repeatedly been noted by officials for its “extreme” behavior, frequently roaring too aggressively to even get boots on the ground.
In recent days, the wind slowed down and the fire burned more moderately in aspen atop Stoner Mesa, as opposed to the highly combustible mixed conifer, a greater window of opportunities have been made to tackle the flames, officials said. A closer attack from crews on the ground, aerial bucket drops and fire lines have all come in handy.
Some days might allow an aggressive approach to curbing the flames, said San Juan Team 8 Incident Cmdr. Pat Seekins.
“Other days we’re going to have to back off and reassess and kind of reevaluate,” he said.
While instilling a steady confidence in their grasp of the blaze, officials did not downplay the fire’s severity, reminding those present that the threat remains very real.
“As everyone’s explained, we’ve been handed a pretty rough deck of cards when it comes to this fire,” said Nick Musto, ranger for the Dolores Ranger District of the San Juan National Forest.
“You had a lot of people with decades of experience go out and look out at that ground, come back to me and tell me, ‘You got a rough country out there.’ And this is folks that aren’t surprised by seeing rough country.”
“Hopefully this fire will stay where it's at and kick itself in the ass,” said Dolores County Sheriff Don Wilson.
Hopefully.
Officials also said that while they very much hoped an evacuation wouldn’t be needed, everyone who may need to flee if the time comes should have a plan in place.
“The No. 1 thing is don’t panic,” said Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin.
“You’re all going to be OK. I’m telling you that because I’m gonna be there with you.”
As the meeting wrapped up, community members stayed to talk more with fire officials, digesting what they’d learned during the meeting.
“I think that the meeting tonight is timely. I think that people have been watching the smoke and trying to understand that behavior,” Rico Town Planner Jen Stark said, referring to the behavior of the flames over the mountains.
“The final step is really on the community members,” Stark said.
If they’re told its time to evacuate, then Rico residents should be truly ready, she said.
Skip Zeller, who said he’d lived in Rico since 1983, expressed confidence in those managing the fire and added that the town community was strong.
“This community, every since I’ve lived here, yeah, we have our differences over politics,” Zeller said.
But the fire fostered something else between neighbors, he said.
“When it comes to this, there isn’t a person in this community who wouldn’t go to the help of a neighbor. They’re here tonight. They showed up.”
