Campers Evacuated As Crews Fight Wildfire Near Dolores
DOLORES COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) -- Authorities began evacuating a small campground near Ferris Reservoir following the ignition of a wildfire Friday afternoon.
An alert sent by a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) at 4:22 p.m. asked anyone in the area of Ferris Reservoir, and particularly to the north of it, evacuate immediately via Forest Service Road 521A.
A Dolores County dispatcher confirmed to CBS4 that authorities were concerned with people camping there.
A 7-site campground exists in Ferris Canyon near that reservoir. It is popular with fly fishermen.
The U.S. Forest Service said in a Facebook post that its crews were working on a 10-acre fire in the Willow Draw Canyon.
Forest Service crews are on the scene of a 10-acre fire on the Dolores Ranger District in the Willow Draw canyon east of...
Posted by USDA Forest Service - San Juan National Forest on Friday, August 6, 2021
The evacuation order had a 24-hour duration at the time of its announcement.
The San Juan National Forest currently has no fire restrictions, but the western third of Colorado is in moderate to exceptional drought conditions as shown on the U.S. Drought Monitor map.
The general area of the fire is north of the border between Dolores and Montezuma counties, about 15 miles north of the town of Dolores.