July 3, 8 pm
Fire activity increased today in the southeast corner of Papoose, burning heavily in beetle-killed spruce and old logging slash. Smoke and ash was observed in Pagosa Springs. Sustained winds at 20 miles per hour, from the north and northwest, pushed the fire into Copper Creek, west of Red Mountain Ranch. With the wind and low humidity, extreme fire behavior prevailed. The fire was burning deep into the interior and was not a threat to structures. As long as the fire continues to burn in these stands of dead spruce, smoke will be more typical.
Smoke monitors are in place in Pagosa Springs, Freemon’s Ranch, Creede, and South Fork. The monitors are identified as #78 (Creede), #69 (Freemon’s Ranch), #25 (South Fork), and #65 (Pagosa Springs). All monitors can be accessed through the map located at: http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/smoke.pl. Times displayed are in GMT – subtract 6 hours to get local time (MDT). For the official Colorado Smoke Outlook, please visit http://www.colorado.gov/airquality/colo_advisory.aspx and http://www.colorado.gov/airquality/wildfire.aspx for further health advisory information.
