Brush fires put out above Crow Valley Road, off Dolphin Bay Road

Temperatures soared in the San Juans this week, and apparently, a spark from a county road crew ignited the dry tinder and sent a brush fire racing up the hill from the Crow Valley Road.

Later that same day, another wildland fire was reported and extinguished off Dolphin Bay Road.

Fire Chief Mike Harris said that on Tuesday, Sept. 16, a call from a county public works employee was received at 10:54 a.m. Harris was on the first responding engine, and said, “I believe the county employee … mowing the right of way… told me that his machine hit a rock which caused a spark.”

Harris said that although he estimated the wind to be only about five miles per hour, it spread quickly and the employee was prudent to call the fire department right away, rather than try to stomp it out.

The fire spread from about 100 feet of roadway to about 75 feet uphill, Harris estimated, covering a total area of about a half-acre.

The firefighters flanked the fire with hoseline on either side of it and “pinched it off said Harris. Six fire engine vehicles and 24 firefighters were involved in putting out the fire. “Even though the fire was contained in about 45 minutes and we breathed a sigh of relief, then the hard work started,” said Harris.

Fire crews spent hours digging out the fire which had gone into the root systems, to make sure it didn’t flare up and ignite later. in active mopup until 9 a.m. and a night watch posted until 6:30 a.m. Mop-up completed 11:30 a.m.

It’s like a campfire, said Harris. “You follow the burned root to where there’s no longer any heat to the touch.”

In the meantime, a second fire was reported at about 6 p.m. near Markoff Lane, off Dolphin Bay Road.

Harris reported that a quarter-acre fire on unimproved land was extinguised in about 30 minutes, with mop-op operations keeping Fire Department crew there until about 9 p.m. There were five department vehicles and 12 personnel involved in putting out the fire, Harris said.

“It’s pretty weird to have two significant (for us) wildland fires on the same day, but it speaks to the weather we’ve been having.”