On Saturday morning, firefighters kept the fire from spreading into Lost Canyon, north of the mill, Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nowlin said. They also kept the fire from a sawdust dump that could fuel a fire for months.<\/p>\n
On Friday evening, Aspen Wall Wood owner David Sitton got word that smoke was rising from the slash pile at the mill.<\/p>\n
He arrived with staff and crews from the Dolores Volunteer Fire Department.<\/p>\n
Smoke was flowing out an enormous pile of aspen cuttings 30 to 50 feet deep, he said.<\/p>\n
The cuttings, a waste product of the mill, are sold to locals as firewood.<\/p>\n
Fire crews and mill staff dug into the pile to extinguish the fire, then pulled back for safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a realization that the fire was burning deep in the pile, with a real risk that a cavity could form and cause a collapse,\u201d Sitton said.<\/p>\n
By 10 p.m., flames had risen to the surface of the pile, and fire crews worked overnight to contain the blaze. Firebreaks were built to keep it from neighboring property and the forested Lost Canyon, Sitton said.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, snow fell all day, but the fire in the massive wood pile continued to burn. To keep it from the mill, bulldozers pushed the pile over a hillside.<\/p>\n
Crews reached containment, and snowfall allowed crews to leave. Mill staff stayed to monitor the fire.<\/p>\n
But about 6 p.m. Saturday, winds picked up and fanned the fire, Sitton said, increasing the fire\u2019s footprint to 3 to 5 acres.<\/p>\n
He asked Dolores firefighters to return, and the battle continued until 4 a.m. Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a tough night \u2013 the whole mill was threatened,\u201d Sitton said. \u201cLosing the firewood pile is a significant loss, but we feel very fortunate. It could have been a lot worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Water and fresh snow were dumped on spot fires that sparked around mill buildings, which contain wood products.<\/p>\n