Update from San Juan National Forest Public Affairs Officer Esther Godson:
Firefighters worked quickly and have controlled all previous lightning fires discovered from the last storm except for the Sand Creek fire, which was at 12 acres Friday morning.
Sand Creek Fire update:
Yesterday, a chinook helicopter continued to work the fire with water bucket drops. A wildland fire module from the Payette National Forest in Idaho was flown in and is established on Sand Bench. They will continue to look for opportunities to engage the incident and monitor fire conditions.
Today, a helicopter will be utilized again to slow fire growth in the heavy dead and down trees. Limited access and standing, dead trees (i.e. snags) from the previous Little Sand fire are major hazards limiting firefighters ability to safely engage the incident directly.
A local San Juan National Forest Type 3 Incident Management Team is expected to take control of the fire on Sunday morning.
Pagosa Ranger District Fire Management asks the public to cautious and aware of fire activity (personnel and equipment) before recreating in the Sand Creek area. Smoke will be visible from the Piedra road for the duration of the incident.
Thursday's update:
The Sand Creek fire continued to grow "despite utilizing a Type 1 Helicopter with bucket drops yesterday to cool the fires edge. The current size is 12 acres and is in the Little Sand fire scar from 2012. Crews are still unable to engage the fire due to numerous snags, hazardous terrain, steep slopes, and difficult access. Crews will return today to continue looking for safe opportunities. The helicopter will be on the fire again cooling the fires edge. Additional resources are being ordered."
The Sheep Creek fire is "controlled and will be checked regularly until declared out."
The Plumtaw fire was placed into controlled status on June 17 at 6 p.m. "The crews spent the entire day mopping up hot spots. The fire area will be checked daily until the Incident Commander (IC) is confident in calling the fire out.
