Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management

NEWS RELEASE: Feb. 1, 2008
Contact: David Boyd, Public Affairs Specialist, (970) 947-2832

BLM to burn slash piles at Canyon Creek

(Glenwood Springs, Colo.) – The Bureau of Land Management Glenwood Springs Field Office is planning this month to burn about 25 “slash piles” generated by last fall’s fuels reduction project northeast of the Canyon Creek subdivision.

Federal fire crews from the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit created an 11-acre defensible space buffer on BLM lands on the east side of the community by thinning trees and removing low branches that can carry a fire into the canopy.

“This 11-acre buffer will increase public and firefighter safety by slowing any wildfires advancing towards homes in the area,” said Jamie Connell, Glenwood Springs BLM Field Manager. “This fire break also reduces the risk of a wildfire burning from public land onto private land.”

The piles will be burned when wind and smoke dispersal are favorable to avoid affecting the subdivision. Some drift smoke could impact homeowners for a short period of time. Anyone with health conditions that may be affected by short durations of smoke should contact Ody Anderson, the project leader, at (970) 947-2800.

The burning could take a week to complete, depending on weather, smoke and fuel conditions. The piles will be burned under the authority of an approved burn plan and when adequate moisture in adjacent fuels is at acceptable levels.

Additional slash piles farther east from the homes will be burned in the winter of 2008/2009. Homeowners adjacent to the project have begun working with the Colorado State Forest Service to build defensible space on their private land as well. 

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