MONTE VISTA – San Luis Valley residents may notice smoke in the mountains over the next few weeks as fire officials from the SLV Interagency Fire Management Unit conduct prescribed burns. The first burning operations may begin as early as Friday, October 2.
Depending on specific area conditions, burning may take place in any of these locations.
Two hundred acres in the Embargo Creek area near Cathedral Campground, west of Del Norte. The 150 acre November Prescribed Burn, located in the vicinity of Fox Creek, west of Antonito.
Five hundred acres in the Mill Creek and Tracy Mountain areas on the Saguache Ranger District/Field Office.
Prescribed fire is used as a tool to improve the condition of forests and rangeland under carefully controlled circumstances. Fire is also used to burn piles of woody material left over from thinning projects.
There may be some minimal visibility and air quality impacts to residents or visitors in the immediate area of these prescribed burns during, and for one to two days following burning operations. It is expected to take one to three days to conduct each prescribed burn followed by several more days of monitoring the areas.
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