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213 Fire calm for now

Firefighters on Tuesday morning monitor an eastern edge of the 213 Fire, which is burning south of Durango along both sides of the Animas River.

Firefighters continue to attack hot spots and mop up at the 213 Fire along La Posta Road (County Road 213) west of Bondad Hill.

“It’s a lot of the same old, same old,” said Sara Jacobson, a La Plata County spokeswoman, on Tuesday. “But the winds are starting to pick up.”

Karola Hanks, Durango Fire Protection District fire marshal, said the fire is 60 percent contained, and it has not grown from the 60 acres it reached Tuesday morning.

Firefighters continue to work hillsides and the Animas River bottom, Hanks said.

A drone used Sunday evening, the day the fire erupted, to give firefighters an idea of the challenges has not been used since, Hanks said.

Changing weather could play a role in firefighters’ battle to corral the blaze.

Winds are picking up and should continue after sunset, peaking at 45 to 50 mph, said Joe Ramey, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service in Grand Junction.

“It could be pretty gusty,” Ramey said.

Isolated thunderstorms, riding a cold front arriving from the west-northwest could find Durango, but the lightning bolts and claps of thunder are expected to occur more frequently at higher elevations, Ramey said.

“The weather will cool considerably,” Ramey said. “Low temperatures Wednesday night will be in the 15 to 20 degree range. Highs Thursday will be in the mid- to upper 40s.”

Firefighters spent the night mopping up hot spots in the 213 Fire along La Posta Road west of Bondad Hill and continued work into Tuesday afternoon.

The Durango Interagency Type III Management Team, supporting the Southern Ute Agency, is in command of the fire.

Jacobson said 130 firefighters from the Durango Fire Protection District, Los Pinos Fire Department, Upper Pine Fire Protection District, Ute Mountain Ute Agency, the Bureau of Land Management, the San Juan National Forest and two hand crews from Juniper Valley near Grand Junction are on the fire.

“They’re hitting it hot and heavy because we expect winds gusting up to 45 mph around 1 o’clock,” Jacobson said early Tuesday.

The cause of the fire hasn’t been determined, and an investigation is underway.

No homes remain under pre-evacuation notice, and no homes have been damaged or destoyed, Jacobson said.

Firefighters on Monday halted the spread of the fire west of Bondad Hill after fire leaped containment lines.

daler@duranagoherald.com



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