A prescribed burn on the Uncompahgre Plateau in Delta County has been canceled. The change in plans comes from a change in forecasted weather, with conditions unfavorable. The U.S. Forest Service of Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre & Gunnison National Forests, or GMUG, intends to reinstate its plans for the burn today, weather permitting.
Wildland firefighter crews are making headway in mitigation efforts in the Spring Creek Fire. The fire that started southwest of Parachute over a week ago was 37% contained as of Wednesday evening. The fire has consumed almost 3-thousand acres at this point, with over 540 fire management personnel on scene.
The Spring Creek Fire management team noted that there has been minimal growth in the fire’s spread as firefighters, ground crew and air support continue to improve containment lines. Jeramy Dietz, Planning Operations Section Chief Trainee from one the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management teams, offers an overview of yesterday’s progress. Dietz provides these updates daily via the Spring Creek Fire Facebook page.
The fire management team noted in a news release yesterday that overall fire behavior was relatively calm, burning through the underbrush. Several days of drying conditions have increased the chances of smaller vegetation igniting and carrying fire. However, the larger fuels, like live trees, remain too moist for the fire to climb up the branches and torch. In contrast, the creeping fire behavior is helpful in removing fuels from the area.
Fire managers made the decision to implement a plan to ignite the dense oak scrub and mahogany brush on the northeast side of the fire. Using drones, operators can strategically apply fire to the landscape from a safe distance. The purpose is to burn fuels under the most advantageous conditions and rob the fire of materials that could burn much hotter under drier conditions.
If the test fires burn as expected and conditions remain favorable, there may be additional burnout operations inside the contingency lines.
Montrose County Commissioners made three decisions regarding the county owned and operated Montrose Regional Airport during its June 21 meeting. KVNF’S Lisa Young reports.
What’s 40 feet long, covered with 4,000 aluminum cans and has a special super power? KVNF’s Lisa Young explored this question in last week’s Local Motion episode, “Building Bubbles.” There, Lisa spoke with Paul Kimpling and Kristen O'Brien, volunteers with The Learning Council in Paonia, on the building of a 40 foot long rainbow trout puppet named "Bubbles."
In this excerpt, Kristen explains how Paul was inspired to do something great for this year’s July 4th Cherry Days Parade in Paonia. "Bubbles" made their debut on Grande Avenue on Tuesday.
To hear the full conversation, visit the Local Motion tab on KVNF.org.
Last month, United States Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper of Colorado wrote a letter requesting a hearing for their Dolores River conservation area bill in the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. For Rocky Mountain Community Radio, KSJD's Chris Clements has more.
