By Bianca Prieto and Felix Doligosa Jr.
Rocky Mountain News (Denver)
Copyright 2006 Denver Publishing Company
Strong winds, torrid weather and dry timber combined Tuesday to push the Mato Vega Fire in southern Colorado to about 9,000 acres, making it the largest wildland fire in the state this year.
For a third day, firefighters battled the raging fire on the Forbes Trinchera Ranch.
“We’re at zero percent containment,” Jeff Burns, fire spokesman for the Colorado Forest Service, said Tuesday afternoon. “This is a 2 4/7 priority for us.”
Clouds of thick brown smoke billowed from the southern portion of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains near Fort Garland on Tuesday. Temperatures in the mid-80s and winds gusting up to 40 mph prevented firefighters from gaining ground on the fire.
Gov. Bill Owens was expected to visit the command post today and to request $3 million of federal aid to combat the fire.
Tuesday night, the fire had settled, winds were calm and temperatures had dipped into the mid-60s. Fire officials said the blaze was 5 percent contained about 10 p.m.
Crews managed to keep the fire from jumping across U.S. 160, where several more subdivisions would have been threatened.
Firefighters burned vegetation along the highway and dug trenches near the road.
“We’re still reacting to the fire,” said Steve Segin, fire information officer for the Rocky Mountain National Incident Team. “We can’t get in front of it for safety reasons.”
More than 250 firefighters, two helicopters and a fixed-wing airplane fought the blaze, which continued to threaten homes in the Paradise Acres subdivision and near a portion of U.S 160 west of Walsenburg. Segin said the flames threatened a total of 280 homes, primarily in the Paradise Acres subdivision.
He said there were 65 mandatory evacuations Tuesday.
Flames rocketed more than 150 feet in the air, more than double the size of the nearby 65-foot ponderosa and juniper trees, Segin said.
Daytime winds pushed the fire northeast toward Huerfano County, where an early January blaze kicked off the fire season with the Mauricio Canyon Fire, which burned more than 3,000 acres.
“This is a whole different ball of wax,” Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center spokesman Larry Helmrick said about the Mato Vega Fire.
The fire started about 1 p.m. Sunday, when lightning struck the parched land.
The Red Cross registered about 40 evacuees at the Fort Garland- Blanca Community Center on Tuesday. None of the evacuees is staying at the shelter, said Barbara Robins, Red Cross Disaster Area team captain for Costilla County.
In other fires around the state, 1,500 acres are burning near the Utah-Colorado state line in the Manti-La Sal National Forest, said Murray Shoemaker, fire information officer for the forest. The Paradox Fire was started about noon Tuesday by a vehicle that crashed and caught fire, according to the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office.
It’s threatening 20 homes in the Buckeye Reservoir area, Shoemaker said, with no containment. Six engines, 34 firefighters, a helicopter and air tanker are battling the fire.
In Teller County, a 120-acre fire was raging near Wrights Reservoir and Cripple Creek Mountain Estates, according to the Teller County Sheriff’s Office. The fire was 25 percent contained Tuesday evening.
More than 100 firefighters, a helicopter and two planes were battling that blaze, which started Monday night. The cause of the fire has not been determined.
In Larimer County, the Halligan Reservoir Fire was contained Tuesday morning, said Eloise Campanella, spokeswoman for the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office.
Mato Vega Fire
* Acres burned: 8,960 acres as of 10 p.m. Tuesday
* Fighting the fire: More than 250 firefighters, two helicopters and a fixed-wing airplane
* Cause of fire: Lightning
* Evacuations: About 65 homes
* Containment: 5 percent
* Today’s forecast: Highs in the mid-80s and dry