{"id":99390,"date":"2018-06-06T11:41:05","date_gmt":"2018-06-06T17:41:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/416-fire-grows-another-1000-acres-remains-10-percent-contained\/"},"modified":"2018-06-06T11:41:05","modified_gmt":"2018-06-06T17:41:05","slug":"416-fire-grows-another-1000-acres-remains-10-percent-contained","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/416-fire-grows-another-1000-acres-remains-10-percent-contained\/","title":{"rendered":"416 Fire grows another 1,000 acres, remains 10 percent contained"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"The
The 416 Fire burned late into the evening Tuesday, filling Durango skies with smoke Wednesday morning. The fire has grown to 4,015 acres and is 10 percent contained.<\/span>Courtesy of Mary Ann Bryant<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
11:40 a.m.<\/div>\n

A community meeting that was scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Silverton Town Hall has been moved to Silverton School Gym on 12th and Reese St.<\/p>\n

Update from Wednesday morning<\/div>\n

High temperatures combined with low humidity helped the 416 Fire to grow to over 4,000 acres as of Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n

Overnight flights mapped the fire at 4,015 acres, which is about 1,000 acres larger than the it was Tuesday morning. Containment remained at 10 percent.<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday was an active day for the 416 fire,\u201d said Bethany Urban, a spokeswoman for the Type II firefighting team. \u201cThere were definitely some gusty winds from the south, temperatures were a bit higher and we had lower relative humidity levels, so obviously that increased fire behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similar fire behavior is expected Wednesday, Urban said. The fire had active crown runs on the southern end of the fire until around 1 a.m., Wednesday. The fire spread mainly to the south, which prompted an additional 252 pre-evacuation notices Tuesday afternoon in the Hermosa area on the east side of U.S. Highway 550.<\/p>\n

Crews planned to spend Wednesday protecting structures in the Hermosa area and building defensible lines along the Highway 550 corridor.<\/p>\n

\u201cCrews are helping residents remove flammable material from around their homes and helping create sensible space around residences to get ahead of the fire\u2019s movement,\u201d Urban said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to continue to be working on projects that they\u2019ve been working on for the last several days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aerial missions had been planned for the south flank of the fire, but fire officials said conditions on the ground didn\u2019t warrant the flights, she said. Urban said the crews were starting to make progress toward building containment lines rather than working on direct suppression and attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re really trying to get ahead and prepare those areas so that they can scout ahead of the fire and identify locations that they can engage the fire so if it does start to spread they can engage it in an area that is safe to do so,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Six helicopters are available to fight the fire, but they will be used only if it is necessary to aid the overall firefighting strategy, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re using those as conditions warrant,\u201d Urban said. \u201cIt kind of depends on the conditions of the weather as well as what they\u2019re trying to drop on, what kind of trees, what type of ground cover, and given that the topography is so complex, there are some areas where it\u2019s effective to drop suppressants from the choppers and others where it\u2019s not really very effective.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The
The 416 Fire map shows the footprint as it was mapped on Tuesday night.<\/span>Courtesy photo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Firefighters will continue to battle against unfavorable weather conditions. The temperature is expected to reach 88 degrees Wednesday with low humidity and 10 to 15 mph winds, said Tom Renwick, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction. The forecast looks similar over the course of the next few days.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday our fire behavior risk is considered high,\u201d Urban said. \u201cTomorrow (Thursday) is actually considered severe. This week is definitely a critical fire-level week.<\/p>\n

The federal incident command team had 598 firefighters fighting the blaze, with more expected to join Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an active fire,\u201d Urban said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be burning for a little while. We don\u2019t anticipate this fire will be extinguished in the coming days. We\u2019ll likely see some growth before it\u2019s all done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Durango woke up to a heavy dose of smoke Wednesday morning. Urban said the smoke should persist until 1 p.m. San Juan Basin Public Health issued an air-quality health advisory that will remain in effect until at least Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the fire continues to grow, air quality could become an issue,\u201d Urban said. \u201cThere may be some decreasing air quality in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two community meetings were held Tuesday evening to inform residents on the fire\u2019s progress. A third community meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Silverton School Gym on 12th and Reese St.<\/p>\n

Highway 550 will reopen under limited access from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The south end of the road closure was moved up from Baker\u2019s Bridge to County Road 250.<\/p>\n

asemadeni@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

What you need to know<\/h4>\n

Donations
\n If you\u2019d like to help, Community Foundation Serving Southwest Colorado is accepting monetary donations for Community Emergency Relief Fund. Call (970) 375-5807. This fund is set up for broad-based community emergencies in Southwest Colorado. The Advisory Committee is working with government agencies and local businesses to develop a strategy for distributing the funds raised. Efforts will support local people and efforts related to 416 Fire. To donate to CERF, residents can send a check to The Community Foundation, P.O. Box 1673, Durango, CO 81302 or donate online at www.swcommunityfoundation.org
\n Community resources
\n La Plata County government hotline for residents evacuating: (970) 385-8700.
\n Livestock can be evacuated to La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave.
\n Four Corners Back Country Horsemen will assist with horse and livestock evacuations, call (570) 228-1340.
\n The Browning Ranch in Farmington volunteered to host horses during evacuations. Call Chris Maedche (505) 681-3595.
\n Small animals can be evacuated to La Plata County Humane Society, 111 South Camino del Rio.
\n Donations of clothing and household items accepted at Discover Goodwill of Durango, 1230 Escalante Drive.
\n Financial donations can be made to the Community Emergency Relief Fund by calling (970) 375-5807.
\n Tips for pre-evacuation
\n For people who received a pre-evacuation notice, these steps can improve their safety and expedite departure should an evacuation become necessary.
\n Inside the house
\n Gather medications.
\n Pack a bag with clothing and essentials.
\n Shut off air conditioning and fans.
\n Shut all windows and doors before leaving.
\n If you have time, gather paperwork and photographs that cannot be replaced.
\n Outside the house
\n Gather flammable items and bring them inside (patio furniture, children\u2019s toys, door mats, trash cans, etc.).
\n Move propane barbecue appliances away from structures.
\n Connect garden hoses to outside water valves or spigots for use by firefighters.
\n Fill water buckets and place them around the house.
\n Don\u2019t leave sprinklers or water running; this can affect critical water pressure.
\n Leave exterior lights on so your home is visible to firefighters in the smoke or darkness of night.
\n Back your car into the driveway with vehicle loaded and all doors and windows closed. Carry your car keys with you.
\n Animals
\n Locate your pets and keep them nearby.
\n Prepare livestock for transport and plan to move them to a safe location early.
\n Pack food and medications for your pets.
\n Insurance
\n Take pictures of the interior of your house to remember and document personal possessions.
\n Determine what is sentimental and can\u2019t be replaced.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hot and dry conditions contribute to active fire behavior<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":99391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[13,84],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-99390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-wildfire"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99390","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=99390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/99390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/99391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=99390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=99390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=99390"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=99390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}