{"id":16829,"date":"2025-08-21T18:43:54","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T00:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/stoner-mesa-fire-incident-base-highlights-efforts-of-personnel\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:02:08","slug":"stoner-mesa-fire-incident-base-highlights-efforts-of-personnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/stoner-mesa-fire-incident-base-highlights-efforts-of-personnel\/","title":{"rendered":"Stoner Mesa Fire incident base highlights efforts of personnel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Yurts
Yurts are scattered throughout the main barn and other areas of the fairgrounds to house various teams working on the Stoner Mesa Fire. (Bailey Duran\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

When wildfires rage, firefighters head to the front lines, but behind every hose line and helicopter drop is a network of personnel coordinating resources, supporting crews and protecting communities.<\/p>\n

Their efforts, often unseen, are just as vital as those battling flames at the fire\u2019s edge.<\/p>\n

Around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Stoner Mesa Fire incident headquarters, only traces of the operation were visible. More than 600 firefighters were deployed to the fire northeast of Dolores.<\/p>\n

Past the security checkpoint, public information officers Andy NeSmith of Florida and Matt Peterson of Oregon waited to give a Journal<\/em> reporter a tour of the base camp.<\/p>\n

The fairgrounds\u2019 main barn has been transformed into a command center, with yurts labeled for medical, communications, finance, operations, air operations, meteorology and more. A briefing stage stands near the entrance.<\/p>\n

Rocky Mountain Team 1 Operations Section Chief Matt Weakland of Buffalo, Wyoming, stood beside a large map printed daily from infrared flyovers, showing hot spots and the fire\u2019s footprint.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a full-suppression fire, which means we are taking actions to suppress the fire,\u201d Weakland said.<\/p>\n

He said the primary goal is to \u201cprotect values of risk,\u201d most of which lie along Colorado Highway 145 and County Road 38. While pointing to the map, he explained where bulldozing and other operations were underway.<\/p>\n

Crews from South Dakota, New Mexico, Florida, Oregon, Wyoming and other states have joined the effort. Most stay for about two weeks before rotating out.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve had a shift in how we approach firefighters,\u201d Weakland said. \u201cWe\u2019ve put a name to it, and it\u2019s called ISAP. It\u2019s incident, strategic, alignment, process.\u201d<\/p>\n

ISAP helps crews develop efficient, safe strategies. Firefighting involves two types of lines: direct and indirect. Direct lines \u2013 dozer and hand lines \u2013 are placed along the fire\u2019s edge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe go right to the fire\u2019s edge and put a line there to stop the fire progression,\u201d Weakland said, noting \u201cX\u201d marks on the map show where those lines are being built.<\/p>\n

\"A
A map hanging in the main barn shows which yurts housed which team. (Bailey Duran\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Indirect lines are placed away from the fire\u2019s edge and may be used for burnout operations or long-term containment.<\/p>\n

Weakland pointed to a dark-red area on the map with significant heat but little movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe likelihood and probability of this portion of the fire putting threat out to our critical values is low,\u201d he said. \u201cBut because all our actions are tied to critical values, what we\u2019re doing is increasing our structure protection measures out here to prepare for kind of a worst-case scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added that cleanup and smoke in some areas may continue into October or November.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of dead and downed stuff that was already out there before the fire started, and it\u2019s burning,\u201d Weakland said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to smoke for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

While some firefighters stay in hotels, others camp at the fairgrounds or at \u201cspike camps\u201d near the fire. NeSmith said road safety is one of the biggest concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur biggest stressor on this are driving these roads,\u201d NeSmith said. \u201cThey\u2019re driving heavy engines and stuff. They\u2019re not doing 65 on these roads like locals, and they\u2019re getting passed all the time. \u2026 These guys are tired. They\u2019ve been on the line a lot. We\u2019re trying to be safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

NeSmith and Peterson also discussed elevation, food and laundry services. Firefighters from sea-level areas receive training to prepare for high-altitude conditions like those at Stoner Mesa, which rises above 9,200 feet.<\/p>\n

\"A
A map, printed at 10:04 p.m. Tuesday, highlighted operations taking place at the site of the Stoner Mesa Fire. (Bailey Duran\/Special to The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Contractors with mobile kitchens provide hot meals and bag lunches containing 1,800 to 2,400 calories. Food is delivered to crews near the fire \u2013 sometimes by helicopter.<\/p>\n

A supply area in the fairgrounds\u2019 swine barn stocks sleeping bags, tents, gear, gloves, batteries, tools and other supplies. Nearby are stations for chain saw repair, fueling, showers and laundry.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are run by the camp crews,\u201d Peterson said. \u201cIt depends on where you\u2019re at, where the camp crew comes from. We\u2019ve had them from Native American tribes. We\u2019ve had them from local camp crews. They help maintain the camp. They take out the trash, they sweep the yurt, they manage the food and water, so they are super busy.\u201d<\/p>\n

NeSmith has worked in wildfire response for 23 years, starting as a firefighter before becoming a public information officer. Peterson was a park ranger for 13 years and has served as a PIO for two.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people are passionate about it. They\u2019re doing it because they want to be here,\u201d NeSmith said. \u201cIt\u2019s not all about the money. You\u2019re away from your family for two to three weeks at a time, and sometimes, depending on the year, you might go out on an assignment five or six times a year. You spend a lot of time away from family. This becomes your family.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

all over the country have teamed up to contain the fire<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[21,350,28,60,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-16829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-cortez","tag-fire","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16829"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20416,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16829\/revisions\/20416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16829"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=16829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}