Two small wildland fires snuffed near Ruedi Reservoir
Crews from Roaring Fork Fire Rescue and the U.S. Forest Service contained two small wildland fires Wednesday evening near Ruedi Reservoir.
The fires broke out at about 5 p.m. beneath a power line near the Mollie B Campground, according to Roaring Fork Fire Chief Scott Thompson. The cause is unknown but there could have been a lightning strike, he said.
No structures or campers were threatened but the fires were burning on a hillside with a lot of downed timber. Thompson estimated the fires at one-quarter acre each.
“We’re not letting any fires get going because of the conditions,” Thompson said.
The blazes were on U.S. Forest Service land between the reservoir and Fryingpan Road. The reservoir is about 13 miles east of Basalt.
A crew of nine from Roaring Fork Fire contained the fires and turned monitoring over to federal firefighters.
“It was remote enough that we had to hike in with our bladder bags on,” Thompson said.
The firefighters had backpack-like equipment with bladders that hold about five gallons of water.
Wildfire danger is increasing on the Western Slope of Colorado and other parts of the West due to the ongoing drought.
