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 Plumtaw Fire Objectives: 

• To utilize risk management to reduce risks to the public and to firefighters. 
• To protect the Lost Valley of the San Juans subdivision and critical infrastructure, including the Fourmile Creek watershed, water intake, private lands, and additional infrastructure. 

Mop up operations will continue through the week as resources work along the fire’s controlled edge, beyond the perimeter, and into the interior.   Air resources are available for initial attack in other areas of the region.  Excess resources will be released and reassigned to other fires when they are no longer needed to meet Plumtaw fire objectives. A thermal infrared detection and mapping (NIROPS) flight identified areas of heat throughout the fire.  

Yesterday’s accomplishments: 

• Mop up extinguishing residual fire to ensure it doesn't continue to spread outside an established containment area   increased containment to 62%, an 11% increase over yesterday. 
• Rehabilitation work continued in the Lost Valley of the San Juans subdivision. 

Today’s plan: 

• Rehabilitation of hand and dozer lines will continue to help minimize potential soil erosion. 
• An unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) equipped with an IR camera will give firefighters an aerial view of both the fire line and hot spots to be extinguished.    
• Firefighters will use maps developed from the NIROPS flight to locate and extinguish hot spots. Hose lays are being removed in areas where mop up is completed. 

Weather: 

Northwest and upslope winds and warmer temperatures will bring drier conditions over the fire area.  Skies will be mostly sunny with a drop in humidity. Significantly warmer weather is expected at the end of the week.  

Fire start date:  May 17, 2022 

Fire size today: 721 acres  

Containment: 62%
 

Location: 7 miles north of Pagosa Springs, CO 

Personnel: 461  

Cause: With no recent lightning and no prescribed fire, the fire’s cause is under investigation. 

Management: 

Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 2  

8 20-person crews  

8 engines 

2 water tenders 

1 dozers  

2 helicopters  

1 skidgeon (skidder/engine) 

Evacuation Information: 

Archuleta County Emergency Operations Call Center  

970/422-7084 

For the latest Smoke Outlook, visit: https://outlooks.airfire.org/outlook/1275a044