A wildfire that erupted Saturday afternoon in the Sage Hen area of McPhee Reservoir was between 50 and 60 percent contained by 10:30 a.m. Sunday, according to a U.S. Forest Service official.
Firefighters on Sunday mopped up hot spots and cut down brush the day after the 150-acre fire started.
The fire started on a private, grassy field near Roads X and 25 at McPhee Reservoir, said Montezuma County Emergency Manager Paul Hollar. It then moved north and east onto U.S. Forest Service land, burning through piñon and juniper.
Officials set up a staging area north of McPhee Dam.
Late Saturday, the fire was estimated at 150 acres, said Ann Bond, public affairs specialist for the U.S. Forest Service. No immediate structures were in danger, and no evacuations were ordered.
The fire’s pace slowed Saturday night, Hollar said.
“It’s dying down. We got a lot of air support today,” he added.
Three fire engines were on scene through the night Saturday, and there was no fire growth overnight, said the Forest Service official, who asked not to be named. An air tanker and a helicopter were in use Saturday night, but no aircraft had been used Sunday morning, he said.
Two Type 2 firefighting crews were on scene Sunday morning for a total of 40 to 50 people, the official said. Wind from the southwest was expected, but no structures were in the fire’s way, he said. Though humidity was going down and the temperature was going up, the official said the crews were making progress.
“If we get through today, we’ll be in good shape,” he said.
About 45 firefighters were on the scene, according to the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office.
On Saturday, three single-engine air tankers (SEATS) and one helicopter assisted firefighters on the ground, and an air tanker from Grand Junction arrived Saturday night and made a couple of drops, Hollar said.
Patrick Seekins, with the Bureau of Land Management, was expected to take command of fire-fighting efforts on Sunday morning, setting up a base near the McPhee Dam at County Roads X and 25, Hollar said.
Hollar was optimistic Saturday that firefighters would be working on securing the area and mopping up on Sunday morning, in part because of the success firefighters made Saturday from the ground and air.
Responding agencies included the Cortez, Dolores and Lewis-Arriloa fire departments, the U.S. Forest Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Montezuma County Sheriff’s Office. Durango Fire Protection Department, and the Homeland Security Office of Emergency Management Field Manager also responded.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Firefighters for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests continued to manage the Pitch and Kelso fires on Sunday. A large column of smoke could be seen looking south from Grand Junction, Delta and Montrose. This column was the result of a prescribed burn on the Manti-La Sal National Forest in Utah.
The Pitch Fire is about 20 miles southwest of Grand Junction, on the Uncompahgre Plateau. The Skyway Fire Module, the Veterans Fire Crew and firefighters from Collbran Job corps continued their work to strengthen and widen perimeter lines by burning unburned fuels, particularly on the north side of the fire, between the containment boundary and the active fire. The fire had grown to about 75 acres.
