The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Virginia Creek fire contained quickly but was a factor
By Katherine Nettles
Gunnison County emergency management department’s decision to enter stage 1 fire restrictions for Gunnison County last week, just before the holiday weekend, was related to several dynamics at play including drought and an active wildfire in the county. Those restrictions are being held in place for now.
The restrictions came on Wednesday, July 2 as a small, apparently human-caused fire dubbed the Virginia Creek fire, was burning just inside the county’s western border near Crawford. The fire started on July 1 on private property and was contained within 48 hours. It was Gunnison County’s second wildfire of the summer.
“Initially, Crawford Fire, Hotchkiss Fire and the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control (DFPC) responded, and later a Forest Service crew was on the fire,” reported Lisa Bickford, Gunnison County’s newly appointed emergency management director. “The next day (July 2) Gunnison Fire and DFPC were working the fire, and it was officially considered out that day.”
The fire covered less than one acre, but according to responders it was burning in dry vegetation with high potential to spread. It was determined to be human caused, but the exact cause is currently under investigation.
The Virginia Creek fire along with persisting drought conditions across the valley and a busy holiday weekend approaching that is notorious for fireworks and campfires, were part of the county’s decision to enact the restrictions. So too were nearby land management agency decisions and lack of overall resources to respond to a large wildfire.
“The decision to go into fire restrictions is really a collaborative effort with different land management agencies throughout the region,” said Bickford. “The County participates on a few different groups to align information and potential restrictions with a number of different partners.”
Bickford said the four main factors considered included reduced availability of local resources, if risk of human caused fires was expected to increase, if weather conditions and potential risk were predicted to change or continue and whether federal land management partners were going into fire restrictions.
“Local resources [had been] impacted by the influx of visitors for July 4th weekend and [had] been committed to several smaller, local fires,” she said, adding that nationally, agencies are at a Preparedness Level 3 which typically involves two or more geographic areas requiring significant amounts of wildland fire suppression resources from other areas.
Additionally, “The potential for human caused fires [was] increasing due to the influx of people over July 4th weekend,” said Bickford. Third, an index of vegetation conditions called Energy Release Component (ERCs) were above the 90th percentile, which is an indicator of high potential for vegetation to carry fire. The high elevation fire danger rating is “very high,” and thunderstorm potential last week was predicted to increase which could temporarily lower the ERCs but also increase the potential for lightning caused fires.
Last, federal partners, including the BLM Gunnison Field Office and the Curecanti/Black Canyon NP were entering Stage 1 restrictions, while the White River National Forest had already enacted Stage 1 restrictions the week prior.
Apparently, the restrictions worked. Bickford said that no significant close calls or major compliance issues were reported over the week. The Gunnison Basin Wildfire Council met on Wednesday morning to debrief the week in more detail and decided to maintain the stage 1 restrictions for the time being.
According to the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) the majority of Gunnison County is in moderate drought, with severe drought conditions to the northwestern and southwestern parts of the county.
What Stage 1 restrictions mean:
• Campfires are allowed only in designated fire grates at developed campgrounds and picnic areas and on private land within permanently constructed fire grates.
• Smoking is restricted to enclosed vehicles or buildings, developed recreation sites, or barren areas cleared of vegetation.
• Operating any internal combustion engine (like chainsaws) is allowed only with a working spark arrester.
• Welding or using torches with open flames is prohibited except in cleared areas with a fire extinguisher.
• Use of exploding targets or fireworks is prohibited.
• Agricultural burning and the burning of trash or debris are prohibited.
