SILVERTON, Colo. — Calm winds allowed firefighters working at the 508-acre Ice Fire near Silverton to attack from both the ground and the air on Tuesday.
It is now 15% contained.
The Ice Fire was first reported Monday afternoon, according to the incident management team. The cause is unknown and remains under investigation.
The incident management team said the fire is burning in steep terrain in the South Mineral Creek drainage, which is about five miles west of Silverton.
Incident Commander Brad Pietruszka said crews experienced less wind on Tuesday compared to Monday, so they're "in a much better position tonight than we were 24 hours ago.”
Firefighters were out late Tuesday evening along South Fork Mineral Creek Road to monitor small burnouts. They used a drone to drop chemical incendiaries higher on the slope, in areas that are inaccessible to ground crews.
Depending on conditions Wednesday, firefighters will start to directly engage the fire along its edge north of the South Mineral Creek Campground as well as in the drainage west of the Ice Lakes trail. Crews are also planning to burn small areas around the fire to secure a perimeter and cut off the main fire's ability to spread beyond the burned area.
Depending on the weather, they will also use helicopters to slow the spread on higher slopes, fire officials said.
Officials ordered a forest area closure for this area in the San Juan National Forest. Click here for details on the closure and click here for a map.
Smoke will be visible from Highway 550, Silverton, Durango, and other surrounding areas and communities.
For more information, call the Ice Fire Public Information Officer at 970-426-5491.
A virtual community meeting is planned for Wednesday at 6 p.m. via Zoom conference. The Zoom link is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88637487127and the dial-in number is 669-900-6833. The Webinar ID is 886 3748 7127.