The U.S. Bureau of Land Management started a prescribed burn on Friday. Oct. 14 on about 275 acres near Gem Village.
The burn reduced the fuel loads in the hills, reducing the wildfire risk in the area, according to a press release from the BLM. Fire managers burned ponderosa pine, piñon-juniper, and scrub oaks.
Smoke from the burn was visible through Sunday. Another 200 acres could be burned later.
The BLM had fire trucks staged here and a helicopter as a precaution, according to a release from the Upper Pine River Fire Protection District.
For information on wildfires and restrictions in the area, call the Southwest District Fire Management Information line at 240-1070, or visit the Durango Dispatch website, http://gacc.nifc.gov/rmcc/dispatch_centers/r2drc, The BLM also has information on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWD_Fire and Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/BLMMontroseFireUnit.
