Note: This post will be updated as more information is released.
Firefighters have completed fire line and have begun mopping up. Today’s cloud cover is helping to keep fire behavior at a minimum. Smoldering will continue for several days and smoke will still drop into valley bottoms in the evening and early morning hours along the Highway 160 corridor east of Bayfield.
Fire crews will remain on scene in the upcoming days to patrol and mop up. No additional updates will be provided on the Freeman Fire today unless conditions change.
A fire was discovered north of U.S. 160 in the First Notch area of the San Juan National Forest in Archuleta County Saturday night, with the fire at 38 acres as of Sunday afternoon, May 25.
As of shortly before 8 p.m. Sunday, the U.S. Forest Service reported crews are still working to complete fire line around the fire and expect to have it lined tonight.
According to the Forest Service, the fire, the Freeman Fire, is in the First Notch area near the Piedra River corridor, northeast of Bayfield on the Columbine Ranger District.
The agency explains in a Sunday morning social media post that "even after dark fire behavior was active, with single tree torching and 2-4 foot flame lengths."