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| "Every adversity carries with it the
seed of an equivalent or greater benefit" |
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The
Jist of It is This ... |
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The
Missionary Ridge Fire started on June 9, 2002 next to the
Missionary Ridge Forest Road, and approximately 10 miles north east
of Durango, Colorado. That road extends from La Plata County
Road 253 and provides access to the Missionary Ridge area and
the Weminuche Wilderness Area. This "man caused"
fire was quickly driven up slope by strong southwest winds and
moved into the lower end of the Coon Creek Drainage. Consuming
over 1000 acres an hour and moving up the Coon Creek Drainage
the fire grew to 6500 acres the first afternoon when it topped
the ridge at 10,400 feet. At the top of the ridge the fire
began burning eastward through three river drainages and 36
tributary drainages to those rivers. Over the next 40 days the
fire consumed 72,962 acres destroying 56 homes , 27 out
buildings and burning 2000 - 8000 acres a day for the first
week. The fire made significant advances building massive ash
laden smoke columns which prompted the evacuation of 2300
homes.
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| Occurring at the
height of a record drought when only 1.31 inches of
precipitation had accumulated after a low winter snow pack the
fire raced through varying types of terrain and vegetation.
Contributing further to the intense burn conditions were high
temperatures, extremely dry conditions, even in heavily
timbered areas, and very low relative humidity. Many older
stands of heavy timber burned on steep hill sides leaving
nothing more than charred trunks and deep ash. |
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categorized burn severity into four severity ratings -
unburned, low, moderate, and high. Burn severity is a relative
measure of the degree of change in a watershed that relates to
the severity of the effects of the fire on soil hydrologic
function. In basic terms, satellite imagery with the
capability to determine the severity of the burn within the
fire perimeter was used to map the entire
fire area. As a result of that satellite effort it was
determined that of the total 72,962 acres within the burn
perimeter 22,542 acres burned at a high severity rate, 21,822
acres at moderate severity 13,872 at low severity and 14,728
acres essentially unburned. |
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Butch Knowlton
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Director,
Office of Emergency Management
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"We feel more than
fortunate (at Virginia's) to
have suffered only the loss of one cabin because", Steve Dudley
says, "We know that other people lost
homes and, by comparison, our loss was small." |
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"We need to focus on the
positive and look to the future rather than to focus on the
fire", urges the 25 year Vallecito merchant, "I still feel really good about
this area". |
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In fact, there are
thousands of acres of Colorado Wilderness to the North end of
Vallecito Lake that remain unaffected by the Missionary
Ridge disaster. Included are not only the newly renovated Vallecito
Campground with a number of choice campsites nuzzled up
close to world class fly-fishing on the pristine banks of Vallecito
Creek, but also the largely celebrated scenic spectacle
otherwise known as our very own Vallecito
Creek Trail; where you can still lose yourself deep in the heart
of the Weminuche
Wilderness and without even a slight reminder of the dark
days of June in the Summer of 2002.
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So come on back to Lake
Vallecito, for a well deserved belt of rich, mountain
greenery and fresh air as rare as fine wine.
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Area Activities
Missionary Ridge Fire
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