Crews zero in on small wildland fire near Lazy Glen in Roaring Fork Valley

Fire crews worked a small wildland fire Friday in the Roaring Fork Valley near the Lazy Glen community and should have it completely out by Saturday evening, a fire official said Friday night.

The fire is on Bureau of Land Management property and is not easily accessible. A U.S. Forest Service ground crew is on scene but is waiting for weather to pass before they go back up Friday night, Jim Genung, fire management officer with the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit, said about 6 p.m.

He said a lightning strike Thursday night in the area is the cause of the fire, but they could not find it when they went up in the evening. He said the fire “kicked up with the winds” that came through Friday afternoon. It has burned about a half-acre but was “taking on a good rain right now,” Genung said.

When the weather clears the ground crew will return to the burn area, and another team will join Saturday and there should be 10-12 federal firefighters on the scene, he said.

“Weather permitting, we should have it buttoned by (Saturday) evening,” Genung said.

Roaring Fork Fire Rescue Chief Scott Thompson said earlier Friday the fire is to the north of the Lazy Glen community (near mile marker 26 on Highway 82), a few hundred yards up the hill and burning in pinon and juniper trees. He said no structures are threatened and there are no evacuations.

“We’ve used two small air tankers and they’ve boxed it in, but the fire is going to be visible tonight and most of tomorrow depending on how much moisture we get,” Thompson said from the scene. “If you driving up Holland Hills and Lazy Glen, it’s in your face.”

Genung said the two single-engine air tankers were able to each make two drops and form a box around the fire.

The lightning that moved through with Thursday night’s storms caused four or five fires in the region, Genung said. He said crews worked Friday morning on a small fire west of the Grizzly Creek burn scar, and then other small fires in western Garfield County and on BLM land.

This is a developing story that will be updated.