A small wildfire burning nine miles southeast of Parshall shows no signs of growth, but fire crews continue to work on a containment strategy.
The Keyser Creek Fire, as it has been named by the US Forest Service, was reported to Grand County Friday afternoon. It’s burning five acres in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests near Morgan Gulch, a remote area of the forest with plenty of beetle-killed lodgepole pines.
Currently, the five acre fire is surrounded by snow and not threatening any structures or resource values, according to the Forest Service. However, the Forest Service closed Morgan Gulch Trail until further notice due to safety reasons.
Due to the location of the fire, crews are not planning a direct attack on the fire. Rather, the blaze has been surveilled by Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control’s Multi-Mission Aircraft and a suppression and perimeter control strategy is in the works.
According to the Forest Service, the area where the fire burns poses a high risk to firefighters because of falling snags in rugged and steep terrain. Thanks to the existing natural barriers around the fire and favorable weather conditions, fire crews will continue to monitor the flames.
The goal is to contain the fire within Morgan Gulch. According to the fire’s InciWeb page, it is 0% contained at this time.
A Type-4 Incident Management Team is monitoring the Keyser Creek Fire with 10 personnel and a single fire engine.
The Forest Service states that the team will continue to plan and prepare for changing conditions and the potential for taking a more direct approach if critical values become threatened and risks to firefighters are more acceptable.