Middle Mesa Fire Evening Update

Fire crews today continued suppression work on the now 700-acre Middle Mesa Fire by air and ground:

• Ground crews patrolled and monitored the fire’s edge, especially along Forest Service roads 218 and 218B, extinguishing spots and slopovers.
• By air, very large air tankers from the Durango Air Tanker Base droppred restardant on the fire’s northern and southern flanks.

Tonight, crews are planning to take advantage of recovering humidty to conduct a strategic firing operation in front of the fire’s head where retardant drops are planned for Sunday.

Meanwhile, more personnel and equipment arrived with more expected Sunday.

AIRCRAFT ADVISORY

Although a temporary flight restriction is in effect, there were two small aircraft incursions into the fire’s airspace today, temporarily causing aerial resources to divert from the area. Fire managers are asking pilots to check NOTAMs before and throughout flights for changes/updates and new emerging incidents. And, as always, do not fly drones in the area.

Beginning Sunday, updates will be provided daily in the evening, unless there are significant changes in fire activity.

Stay informed and subscribe to the Carson National Forest email list to get updates about this wildfire and more: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r03/carson/keep-in-touch. And more information is available on InciWeb.

Photo: An MD-87 tanker is loaded with retardant at the Durango Air Tanker Base on Saturday