Several area fire crews are battling a 3-acre fire in southern Archuleta County, near the Colorado-New Mexico border.
The fire was started by lightning earlier in the week on a private ranch, said Christina Kraetsch, Archuleta County's deputy director of emergency management. The property owners monitored the fire themselves for about a day before deciding to call it in Wednesday evening, and the county's fire crew responded and monitored the fire overnight.
Kraetsch reported that the fire is in an area with a lot of heavy dead and downed trees and will require a significant amount of saw work by fire crews.
The San Juan Hotshots, Pagosa Ranger District of the U.S. Forest Service and the Pagosa Fire Protection District are all assisting on the fire, with command of the fire expected to be transferred to the USFS today.
The fire is not yet contained and crews are working today to create a line around the blaze, Kraetsch reported.
