By Erin Emery
The Denver Post
Copyright 2006 The Denver Post
All Rights Reserved
The San Luis Valley got a double dose of good news Thursday - word that evacuees in one subdivision could return to their homes today and the opening late Thursday of U.S. 160 over La Veta Pass.
Motorists were to be allowed to travel the highway without restriction overnight, and a pilot car will escort traffic over the pass from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for the foreseeable future.
The highway, the primary east-west route through southern Colorado, had been closed since Monday.
Wagon Creek residents can go home this morning.
Higher humidity Thursday slowed the growth of the Mato Vega fire that is burning on 13,153 acres of the Forbes Trinchera Ranch. The fire is 35 percent contained.
“They perceive that the threat along (U.S.) 160 has been diminished; the fire has moved off to the west,” said Louis Haynes, spokesman for the Mato Vega fire team. “The fire has consumed a lot of fuels on the interior up to our lines on the north, and we just don’t see the threat that we had.”
Across Colorado, firefighters were aided by higher humidity Thursday, but hot and dry weather today will keep much of the state in elevated danger and nourish the Mato Vega.
“We’re supposed to go back into a drying and heating period for the next few days. The next cool front is expected on Sunday. We’re probably going to see an increase in fire activity based on the weather,” Haynes said.
On the Western Slope, the Lion Creek fire, which started after a vehicle rollover Tuesday afternoon, had burned about 1,660 acres Thursday and was
5 percent contained. The fire threatened numerous houses and outbuildings in Paradox, about 50 miles southwest of Grand Junction.
At the Jolly Mesa fire, 3 miles west of Silt, 540 acres have burned. Containment is estimated at 25 percent, said Dave Boyd, fire spokesman.
Hot, dry conditions and a brisk wind revisited the area about 5 p.m. and the fire quickly doubled in size, Boyd said. There are several homes in the area, but none of them was threatened Thursday night, he said.
For most of the day, firefighters and a helicopter making water drops were able to keep flare-ups in check, Boyd said.
In Douglas County, the 10-acre Bear Creek fire was contained Thursday. Two others in the county — the Haystack and Antenna fires near Larkspur — were also contained.
The Wrights fire in Teller County remained at 45 acres and was 95 percent contained Thursday. Residents of three threatened homes, as well as others in the area, were allowed to return.
Authority for the fire was turned over to Teller County on Thursday night as cooler temperatures and increased humidity with scattered rain showers are expected to help firefighters contain the fire.
Colorado’s largest active wildfire, the lightning-caused Mato Vega, has cost $1.46 million to fight. More than 420 firefighters were assigned to the blaze Thursday.
Residents in the Paradise Acres and Old La Veta Pass area were still under mandatory evacuation orders.
Firefighters were expected today to work to consolidate their gains on the north side of the fire, where Paradise Acres is located, and along the highway on the east side.
“The western flank of the fire is still unlined at this point,” Haynes said. “Basically, the west side is out in some rough, rough country with limited access.”
The Forbes Trinchera Ranch, owned by Forbes Inc., the publishing