Fire crews and helicopters dropping buckets of water made good progress on the Ice Fire yesterday and the fire was 15% contained and 508 acres in size.
The fire is burning in steep terrain in the South Mineral Creek drainage, about five miles west of Silverton. The cause of the fire is unknown and under investigation. Firefighters are working to prevent the fire from spreading toward US Highway 550. “We had less wind today and because of the work put in both on the ground and by the helicopters, we’re in a much better position tonight than we were 24 hours ago” says Incident Commander Brad Pietruszka. 100 personnel are currently assigned. If conditions permit, firefighters will directly engage a portion of the fire’s edge on Wednesday, north of the South Mineral Creek Campground. They are also planning to “burn out” small areas to further secure the perimeter and stop the fire’s spread.
To keep the public safe and provide for safe fire operations, a forest area closure is in effect for the area of the fire on the San Juan National Forest. Going in or being upon all NFS land in the Mineral Creek watershed and all NFS lands bounded in the north by the Ophir Pass road (NFSR 679) south to the Southern ridge above South Mineral Canyon, including Rolling Mountain, Twin Sisters, and Bear Mountain, and US Highway 550 on the east to the Forest Boundary with the Uncompahgre NF on the west. The area closure is shown below:
Please do not stop to watch aircraft and firefighting activities as this poses a hazard for fellow travelers. Smoke from the fire will be visible on Highway 550, Silverton, Durango, and other surrounding areas and communities. Road signs are posted alerting any travelers of smoke and firefighting personnel and equipment in the area.
Fire danger remains very high and Stage 1 fire restrictions are in place on the San Juan National Forest (order). Visitors are encouraged to practice extreme caution and be careful with anything that might start a fire.
Additional incident information can be found on the Ice Fire Inciweb page, or by calling the Ice Fire Public Information Officer at (970) 426-5491.
Wildfire smoke may affect your health. For more information, please visit this website.
All offices on the San Juan National Forest are currently conducting business and providing services virtually. For information on the San Juan National Forest, call (970 ) 247-4874, visit the forest website, or follow us on social media (Twitter and Facebook).
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