East Canyon Fire
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The East Canyon Fire was a wildfire burning in
La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from th ...
and Montezuma Counties in Colorado in the United States. The fire was the largest of many small fires started by a lightning storm and was first reported on June 14, 2020. The East Canyon Fire burned and was contained on June 27, 2020. The fire resulted in the closure a portion of Highway 160 and mandatory evacuations of a campground and residences in the area.


Events

The East Canyon Fire was first reported on June 14, 2020, around 12:41 PM, on a ridge east of Menefee Peak, owned by the
Bureau of Land Management The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior responsible for administering federal lands. Headquartered in Washington DC, and with oversight over , it governs one eighth of the country's la ...
(BLM), near
Mancos, Colorado Mancos is a statutory town in Montezuma County, Colorado, United States. The population was 1,196 at the 2020 census, down from 1,336 in 2010. The town is in southwestern Colorado, at the base of Mesa Verde National Park, and holds the trademar ...
. The fire was started by a lightning strike, from a large lightning storm, in a pinyon-juniper forest on a mesa surrounded by numerous canyons. Fueled by pinyon-juniper, Gamble oak, and grass, the fire is burning in a hard area to reach, requiring fire crews to use aircraft to fight the fire. By the evening the fire had grown to , burning on both BLM and private land in
La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from th ...
and Montezuma Counties, specifically on the east side of Weber Canyon and the west side of Cherry Creek. Fire crews focused on keeping the fire east of Highway 46, where it threatened two subdivisions, south of Highway 160, and west of County Road 105. As a result, fifteen homes and the Target Tree Campground were placed under mandatory evacuation. By the next day, June 15, Red Flag warnings were in place and crews began to secure the western area of the fire, protecting a radio tower and two nearby homes. Due to high winds, the fire moved down the east side of Weber Mountain. In the afternoon, the fire pushed towards Highway 160. It burned one mile south of the highway, resulting in the highway being closed. A Temporary Flight Restriction was also put in place for 10 miles around the fire. As of the evening of June 16, the fire had burned and crews had reached five percent containment and made significant progress with dozer lines and fire retardant drops. However, the fire kept moving down small canyons and began breaching retardant lines. Two privately owned pieces of equipment and a small privately owned bridge burned. A bear with badly burned feet was tranquilized and transported to a rehab facility. Two days later, on June 18, the BLM reported that the fire was back to zero containment. The next day, June 19, they reported it was 17 percent contained. This progress was due to light favorable wind conditions. On June 22, all evacuation orders were lifted and all sides of the fire, except the northwest flank, were contained. The fire was contained by June 27, 2020. It burned a total of .


Impact

The East Canyon Fire threatened the Elk Springs and Elk Stream subdivisions. The fire's quick runs towards Highway 160 resulted in a portion of the highway being closed from June 15 until June 16. The Target Tree campground was closed and 15 houses were evacuated starting June 14. Evacuation orders were lifted on June 22. On June 16, fire crews spotted an injured bear walking across a meadow towards a pond in Hesperus. The bear was tranquilized and found to have heavy burns on all four feet. The bear was transported to Frisco Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation Center and will be released back into the wild by August 2020.


Gallery

East Canyon Fire 10.jpg, Airplane dropping fire retardant on June 18, 2020 East Canyon Fire 9.jpg, East Canyon Fire on June 18, 2020 East Canyon Fire 02.jpg, Burn scars from the East Canyon Fire on June 18, 2020 Clearing brush in Division Echo.jpg, Crews clearing brush on June 21, 2020 East Canyon Fire north flank on June 21, 2020.jpg, East Canyon Fire's burn scar on the north flank on June 21, 2020 Portion of fire line on June 24.jpg, Portion of fire line on June 24, 2020


References

{{USFS 2020 Colorado wildfires La Plata County, Colorado Wildfires in Colorado Montezuma County, Colorado