Human-caused wildfire up Slate River Valley contained

Chopper used to douse fire

By Mark Reaman

The first wildfire scare of the season in the area occurred Wednesday, June 28 up the Slate River Valley.

According to Crested Butte fire chief Ric Ems, the fire was human-caused and not as a result of lightning. He said some campers up the Slate River Valley toward Paradise Divide had broken camp and decided to dig out their fire pit but they ended up not thoroughly extinguishing the campfire. With the high winds of last week, the embers were kept alive and blown into dry foliage.

“The fire was not completely out and when the embers reached some vegetation, they ignited the dry fuel and climbed back up a cliff,” Ems said. “From there it actually caught some trees on fire.”

Ems said the fire was located on U.S. Forest Service property. The Crested Butte Fire Protection District responded to the scene to get a jump on containing the wildfire. The USFS sent in a helicopter that afternoon. The chopper used a dip tank with a nearby pond and dropped 40 tanks on the fire before going to Gunnison for fuel. It returned to the scene and put more drops on the fire. Thanks to the quick response, the fire was contained to about a half an acre.

Ems said the recent winds and temperatures have increased the fire danger in the area. Some rain is forecast for the end of the week but local safety officials are urging everyone to be extremely careful with any sort of flames.

While there are no current fire bans in effect around the county, recent weather conditions have public safety officials reporting that there is a high fire danger. So everyone is encouraged to be extra careful with campfires and any open flames.