News

• Stoner Mesa Fire Continues to Grow
• G is for Government Previews Town Council

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Stoner Mesa Fire Continues to Grow

The Stoner Mesa Fire west of Rico has grown to more than 3,500 acres since it started Tuesday, Aug. 5.

Over the weekend, firefighters worked to secure fire lines to the south and southeast along existing logging and Forest Service roads. Hot, dry and windy conditions caused rapid growth to the east until the blaze reached a natural barrier of aspen trees and rocky outcroppings. Fire officials say winds out of the northeast on Sunday drove the fire south into heavy fuels, leading to more intense fire behavior.

Cristal Hibbard, a nine-year Rico resident and the town’s mayor pro-tem, said the community remains on “ready” evacuation status.

“Our local volunteer fire department has been really active on this fire since it started,” Hibbard said. “They’ve been in really close communication with the incident command that’s been put in place for the fire. … We’ve had some fire crews coming in, I believe, from the Pacific Northwest that will be gathering in town — up to 100 firefighters, is what I was told. I am not sure that any work has actually been done for structure protection in Rico just yet, but I know that that is part of the plan.”

Hibbard said Rico’s town manager and mayor also serve on the volunteer fire department, which has helped coordinate wildfire communications.

Mike DeFries, information officer for the Stoner Fire incident management team, said a shift in winds has allowed firefighters to adjust their tactics.

“Yesterday the winds came from kind of the west northwest, and that pushed the fire into more readily available fuels, this time on the western heel of the fire, and it pushed growth to the south that’s continuing today,” DeFries said. “Firefighters are working … to hold that line and stop any new growth and keep that fire west of [Forest Service Road] 547. … On the eastern side … there’s very minimal growth going on.”

DeFries said crews are also conducting structure protection work along County Road 38 and Highway 145.

“What we can do as firefighters … is prepare structures so that if the fire were to impact the community, [they] would have the best chances of surviving,” he said. “That means firefighters … trim those flashy fuels near structures. They’re also setting up pumps, hoses and sprinklers … so that … they will do a continuous spray on the structures, again, just trying to proactively prepare those structures.”

Hibbard said smoke impacts in Rico have been heavy.

“The smoke has been pretty bad for most of the week,” she said. “It goes in and out throughout the day, but certainly [we’ve] felt impacts … until yesterday evening, when the winds took a little bit of a shift to the south. I know Durango had pretty bad air quality yesterday, but it was a really nice breather for us.”

A community meeting with incident command and law enforcement is planned in Rico Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the fire station. More information is available at inciweb.wildfire.gov or the Stoner Mesa Fire Information Facebook page.

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G is for Government Previews Town Council

Telluride Town Council is meeting this week to discuss gondola planning, building code updates, and this years ballot questions. Town council Member Geneva Shaunette shares more about this week’s agenda.

Story begins at 5:09

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Telluride Science Center Hosts Final Town Talk of Summer

The Telluride Science Center will host its final Town Talk of the summer season Tuesday, Aug. 12, at the Telluride Conference Center.

Boston University Professor Lucy Hutyra will present “Trees in the City,” a talk that examines how trees grow in challenging urban environments and the ecological trade-offs they face.

The presentation will explore how cities might balance green and built solutions to improve urban livability. Using recent data and case studies, Hutyra will discuss the biology, chemistry, climate, sociology and planning that shape urban ecosystems.

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Six Wyoming Counties Lose Local News Outlets

Six counties in Wyoming lost their local news outlets last week.

As KHOL’s Jenna McMurtry reports for Rocky Mountain Community Radio, the closures came suddenly.

Story begins at 11:58

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