Smoke from the First Notch area of the San Juan National Forest is visible from U.S. Highway 160 on Monday morning.
Smoke from the First Notch area of the San Juan National Forest is visible from U.S. Highway 160 on Monday morning.Photo by Melanie Brubaker Mazur

The Columbine Ranger District started preliminary work on a controlled burn east of Bayfield on Sept. 19, and it is set to burn today and tomorrow.

A column of smoke could be visible Monday and Tuesday in Bayfield and as far away as Durango and Pagosa Springs.

On Monday morning, fire crews completed blacklining, which is when they burn toward their fire line on the perimiter of the fire, explained Ann Bond, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service office in Durango.

This afternoon, a helicopter is going to aerially ignite the interior of the presribed burns. Up to 1,000 acres could burn today, and 1,500 acres on Tuesday before a wet cold front is set to arrive later Tuesday, bringing a 60 percent chance of rain and thunderstorms.

“People are going to see a column of smoke, probably most visible from Highway 160,” including the Saul’s Creek, Beaver Meadows and Lange Canyon areas, she said.

The smoke column is expected to loft high into atmosphere today, with smoke going north into the upper Piedra River drainage and south Hinsdale County, she added. Monday evening’s smoke is likely to settle into the Beaver Creek and Saul’s Creek drainages, and possibly toward the lower Piedra.

Tomorrow’s rain forecast actually is ideal to clear the air after the burn, she noted.

The burn is taking place in the Yellow Jacket area of the San Juan National Forest east of Bayfield. Crews worked this summer to widen past control lines that had become overgrown to help safely keep burning operations within determined boundaries. These fall burns will reduce the risk of high-intensity wildfires in these areas, and increase forage on big-game winter range.

Yellow Jacket prescribed burn

This planned prescribed fire encompasses 2,539 acres within two burn units, which will be ignited and monitored by trained firefighters using both ground and aerial ignition methods. Weather and fuel parameters stated in the prescribed fire plan will be followed. Daytime smoke is expected is expected move into the atmosphere to the north and east into the Piedra River drainage, while nighttime smoke is projected to settle in the Beaver and Sauls Creek drainages. Smoke will be heavier in the mornings following burning operations, and should lift dissipate by mid-day.

Ground crews at the site will include local firefighters, two hotshot crews and five engines.

For more information, contact the Columbine Ranger District Office at 884-2512.