Prescribed burn activities to continue tomorrow south of Silt
Release Date: Apr 13, 2017
Media Contacts: Kate Jerman, 970-945-3271 or David Boyd, (970) 876-9008
Prescribed burn activities to continue tomorrow south of Silt
Silt, Colo – April 13, 2017 - Pending favorable weather conditions, the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire and Aviation Management (UCR) crews and partners will conduct prescribed burn operations on Bureau of Land Management and National Forest System lands at West Divide located 14 miles south of Silt, Colorado. This is a continuation of the prescribed burning that has occurred over the past 8 years. Firefighters are hopeful the prescribed burn will take place on Friday, April 14.
Up to 2,000 acres of mountain shrub and oakbrush will be ignited (1,200 acres of U.S. Forest Service land and 800 acres of BLM land). Operations will be conducted over 2-4 days spread in April and/or May, depending on specific weather and smoke dispersion conditions that must be in place in order to proceed.
The West Divide Prescribed burn will be ignited aerially by use of a helicopter with hand crews nearby for added support. Aerial ignitions will be responsible for igniting vegetation and nearby hand crews will monitor control and spread of fire and smoke, ensure fire is held by control features and monitor fire behavior for meeting project objectives.
The public is reminded: do not call 911 or emergency services even though smoke may be visible from Interstate 70 between Rifle and New Castle and drift smoke may be visible from Glenwood Springs and parts of the Roaring Fork Valley. Most of the smoke will dissipate during the day, although some nighttime smoke may remain in valley bottoms as temperatures drop. Any carry-over smoke is expected to be of short term occurrence.
Those who are sensitive to smoke are encouraged to call the Rifle District for additional information. For more information on how prescribed fire smoke may affect your health, please visit: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/wood-smoke-and-health .
The prescribed burns will only be initiated if they can be accomplished safely and effectively. These burns are targeted to improve wildlife habitat within the project areas, with an emphasis on enhancing mule deer and other large game winter and transition range forage. A secondary benefit of these projects will be the reduction of fuel loads in the mountain shrub and oakbrush vegetation adjacent to private lands.
Additional information regarding this project and the objectives of the work is available at Rifle Ranger District Office 0094 County Road 244, Rifle, CO. at 970-625-2371, or by calling Chad Sewell, UCR Fuels Specialist, (970) 216-8999.