By Bianca Prieto
Rocky Mountain News (Denver)
Copyright 2006 Denver Publishing Company
FORT GARLAND, Colo. — Favorable weather Wednesday helped hundreds of firefighters turn the tide against the Mato Vega Fire, which has grown into one of the largest fires in the nation.
The nearly 12,000-acre fire was 30 percent contained at 9 p.m. but, more importantly, steered by wind away from a subdivision less than a mile from the flames.
Higher relative humidity, slightly lower temperatures and slower wind kept the fire from the explosive growth that had it racing northwest Tuesday on a heading dead-on for the Paradise Acres subdivision.
It gave 15 firefighters from the Colorado Springs Fire Department the opening they needed to bolster the defensible space around the 37 homes in the subdivision, which remains under mandatory evacuation orders.
At one two-story log home, three firefighters heaved piles of scrap lumber into the dense trees.
The owners hadn’t cleared a defensible space — firefighters want at least a 33-foot radius around the house clear of debris, wood or other flammables.
“They’re not year-round residences,” said Jerry Montella, firefighter with the Colorado Springs Fire Department, as he threw down more wood. The owners probably left before there was fire danger in the area, he said.
The back side of the cabin looked to be in the finishing stages of a remodel. Pieces of wood and a glass shower door littered the back yard.
“We encourage people to do this on their own . . . to take time around the house and build a safety zone,” he said.
No structures have been damaged or destroyed since lightning struck the parched mountainside Sunday afternoon. The blaze spread rapidly through dry pinon, juniper and grass, forcing the closure of U.S. 160, the main east-west route across Southern Colorado.
Fire officials don’t know when residents will be allowed back into their homes or when the highway will reopen.
The forecast for today, highs in low 80s, with a 40 percent chance of thunderstorms, heartened fire officials Wednesday.
“If we get the right one it could be a wedding ring,” said Steve Segin, fire information officer.
The highway has served as a barrier against spread of the fire to the south. Today, officials plan to mount their fight along the north side of the road, lighting backburns to deprive the fire of some of its fuel.
With conditions improving, fire officials Wednesday were considering allowing the up to 200 residents back into the Wagon Creek subdivision, which is south of the highway, west of La Veta Pass.
On Wednesday morning, Gov. Bill Owens flew over the fire on his way to Alamosa to view the destruction. He was later driven around the site and thanked firefighters for their hard work.
“I don’t want to see any of these fire professionals lives be put at risk because of someone else’s stupidity,” Owens said after touring the fire. “Let’s be safer and smarter.”
Although the Mato Vega fire started naturally, more than half of Colorado’s fires in 2005 were caused by people.
Owens warned of the fire dangers and dry conditions that encompass nearly all of Colorado.
At midafternoon, thin, white plumes of smoke rose from thick stands of conifer trees as spot fires inched closer to the Paradise Acres. Helicopters carrying large orange buckets of water crisscrossed the sky before dumping their loads on the leaping flames.
Meanwhile, a fire sparked late Wednesday afternoon was burning in Pike National Forest in Douglas County, and firefighters were concerned about the residential enclave of Moonridge.
As of 10 p.m., the fire was about 30 acres. No evacuations have been ordered for the residents of the enclave, but county authorities have notified them about the blaze, utilizing the Reverse 911 emergency system, the U.S. Forest Service said.
Dubbed the Bear Creek Fire, the blaze is about 10 miles southwest of Sedalia near the U.S. Forest Service’s Indian Creek Work Center.
Firefighters are using helicopters and air support to attack the flames. Investigators believe lightning may have started the fire.
In Montrose County, the Lion Creek Fire near Paradox grew Wednesday to 1,660 acres.
Flames were pushing down toward Paradox Valley, where several homes and buildings are threatened in the Buckeye Reservoir area. No evacuations have been ordered.
Federal and Montrose County authorities have shut down any access to the Buckeye Reservoir.
The blaze began in the Manti-La Sal National Forest when a vehicle crashed, rolled and caught fire.
In Teller County, south of Douglas County, authorities downscaled the size of the Wright Fire near the Wright Reservoir from 120 acres to 45 Wednesday.