San Juan NF in SW Colorado to be closed!
I started another thread on the 416 Fire north of Durango, but this closure will affect a much greater area. So if you have plans around Durango, Pagosa Springs, Dolores up to Lizard Head Pass, be ...
Forum Discussion
As most of you are probably aware, fire can be very unpredictable. Certain patterns can be anticipated, but fuel source, geography, and winds are always wildcards.
Too early to say what will be the situation toward the end of this month, or into July. The 3 largest fires in Colorado history were
~138000/110400/87400 acres, significantly larger than the current 416 fire at ~23000 acres. Hopefully the firefighting efforts going on now will be a success in containment and won't approach some of these historic fires.
However, the Fern Lake Fire in RMNP a few years back started 10.09.2012 and wasn't officially out until spring 2013...more than 6 months. Even snow and cold could not stop that fire over the winter. Fuel (beetle kill), winter winds, and geography were major factors for that fire.
Anyone coming to SW Colorado should certainly monitor what's going on prior to departure, and a good contingency plan would probably not be a bad idea.
Too early to say what will be the situation toward the end of this month, or into July. The 3 largest fires in Colorado history were
~138000/110400/87400 acres, significantly larger than the current 416 fire at ~23000 acres. Hopefully the firefighting efforts going on now will be a success in containment and won't approach some of these historic fires.
However, the Fern Lake Fire in RMNP a few years back started 10.09.2012 and wasn't officially out until spring 2013...more than 6 months. Even snow and cold could not stop that fire over the winter. Fuel (beetle kill), winter winds, and geography were major factors for that fire.
Anyone coming to SW Colorado should certainly monitor what's going on prior to departure, and a good contingency plan would probably not be a bad idea.
