Fire officials say the Ferris Fire response is entering a new phase as crews shift more of their work from active suppression to mop-up and suppression repair.
The fire in Montezuma and Dolores counties was last listed at about 64,900 acres and 53% contained.
At a Thursday night community meeting in Dove Creek, California Interagency Incident Management Team 7 said the fire has not grown in several days.
Operations Section Chief Tom Himmelrich said crews were able to stop the fire’s northern advance after shifting hotshot crews, aircraft, bulldozers and engines to the rim above Dolores Canyon. He said that northern area remains the hottest part of the fire, and crews will continue mop-up work there for several more days.
Himmelrich said smoke visible from the fire will generally be coming from the northern portion of the incident. Crews are using infrared drones to locate remaining heat, including ash pits and smoldering trees, so firefighters can move in and extinguish hot spots.
Fire behavior analyst Jen Anderson said current fire behavior is much quieter than earlier in the incident. She said most remaining heat is interior, and crews have been cooling the fire’s edges so it cannot escape its current perimeter.
The response is also shifting into suppression repair.
That work includes repairing bulldozer lines, pulling berms back into place, chipping and scattering cut brush, adding water bars to reduce erosion and grading forest roads that saw heavy fire traffic. Himmelrich said many of the same crews and heavy equipment operators who built fireline are now transitioning into repair work.
Local officials said public land closures remain in place.
Dolores County Emergency Management said Forest Service and BLM lands are still closed, and people should not drive into closed areas to look at the fire footprint. Officials said when those areas reopen, visitors should expect a changed landscape and new hazards.
At the meeting, county leaders and fire officials thanked local firefighters, law enforcement, emergency managers and community members.
Dove Creek Fire Department’s Grant Allen said the fire became a local emergency when it pushed toward drainages near Dove Creek. He said volunteer firefighters worked long nights alongside hotshot crews, dozer crews, the Forest Service, BLM, Colorado state firefighters and others to protect homes and private property.
Montezuma County Sheriff Steve Nolan said northern Montezuma County was placed under pre-evacuation earlier in the fire because of fire behavior, weather and heat conditions near County Road S and Bradfield Bridge. He said no homes and no lives were lost.
Incident meteorologist Rose Schoenfeld said the monsoon pattern has brought thunderstorms and rain to the fire area. She said storms can still create hazards for firefighters, but the rain and higher humidity are helping reduce fire activity.
Incident commander trainee Nick Elmquist said the fire started during record-level fire danger, with critical fuel moisture in live and dead vegetation. He said wind gusts over 50 miles per hour helped drive extreme fire behavior in the early days of the incident.
Once the fire reached Dolores River Canyon, Elmquist said it made uphill runs of more than 1,000 feet in about five to seven minutes.
He said the fact that no structures were lost during those conditions was a testament to firefighters and coordination among local, state and federal partners.
Dolores County Emergency Management said the Ferris Fire is currently the 10th largest wildfire in Colorado history.
Residents should continue checking Dolores County Emergency Management, Ferris Fire Information, the San Juan National Forest and official evacuation maps for the latest closure, evacuation and access information.
