Montrose Fire Protection District crews and other agencies work to contain a brush fire at Colorado Outdoors, near the river trail on the northern end Wednesday, April 24. (Katharhynn Heidelberg/Montrose Daily Press)
Montrose Fire Protection District crews and other agencies work to contain a brush fire at Colorado Outdoors, near the river trail on the northern end Wednesday, April 24. (Katharhynn Heidelberg/Montrose Daily Press)
Two small brush fires spiked 5- to 6-foot flames skyward Wednesday, along the river near the northern end Colorado Outdoors, ultimately burning about 7 acres. Because of wind and poor access to the fire, Montrose Fire Protection District crews requested assistance from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control and the Bureau of Land Management.
A cause has not been determined, although the MFPD incident report states “none” under “human factors contributing.” The Montrose Police Department — which with the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office sent officers to monitor the scene — was at last report investigating.
Firefighters were paged out at about 10 a.m. Wednesday. They saw fire across the river from their dispatched location, which they could not reach, according to an incident report released on Friday. The burn area was about 1 acre at the time, with fire slowly spreading through grasses, and then at moderate speed into more grasses and “isolated pockets of heavy slash and garbage piles.”
A second engine went to the opposite side of the river, as well as a brush unit, for half-acre spot fire.
The first fire expanded to about 4 acres. The mutual aid resources and response split into two divisions. Through progressive hose lays, firefighters established containment, using the river and an access road as natural boundaries. Upon containment, they reinforced the perimeter line. As dusk fell, the MFPD determined that rising humidity levels meant the fire did not need to be staffed overnight, although a plan was put in place for next-day operations.
No structures were burned and no property loss reported. Sixteen personnel, using about 25,000 gallons of water and six fire apparatuses contained the fire.
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