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Emergency manager reports Stoner Mesa wildfire largely contained; commissioners may lift limited burn restrictions
Summary
Montezuma County emergency management reported the Stoner Mesa and other recent incidents are largely controlled, listed current fire restriction stages across local areas and said the county could consider a temporary lifting of burn restrictions for agricultural needs.
The county’s emergency management official updated commissioners on recent wildfire activity and county response, saying the Stoner Mesa incident is largely contained and that several local restrictions remain in place in adjacent jurisdictions.
The official reported the Stoner Mesa incident at roughly 10,249 acres (reported figure) and said the incident showed no recent growth; he noted a small portion of the fire extended into Dolores County. He said the county had worked closely with neighboring agencies and incident management teams over an extended period and that the county had supported incident command posts at the fairgrounds during some operations.
Agency fire-restriction statuses mentioned in the workshop included: Forest Service and BLM currently having no restrictions in the manager’s account, while Mesa Verde National Park remained at Stage 1 and the U Mountain and Southern Ute areas remained at Stage 2 (as reported). Lifeline systems (transportation, communications, health/medical) were reported to be operating normally.
Several commissioners asked whether the county could temporarily lift local burn restrictions to allow agricultural burning while conditions remain favorable; the emergency manager said that option could be considered and reimposed if conditions changed and suggested the board take the question up at the next meeting.
The manager also reported that recent storms had aided firefighting and that several incidents over the prior three months had been extinguished, leaving no active disasters at the time of the workshop.
