High Winds Ignite Unburned Debris In Prescribed Burn Area

SUMMIT COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) -- Smoke may be seen near the Keystone Ski Resort for several more days due to slash piles that were lit and burned late last week and then re-ignited Saturday during high winds, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

Local Summit County fire crews were called to the west side of Keystone mid-afternoon Saturday. They ultimately handed the incident over to USFS personnel.

Sunday, local crews were back again actively monitoring the perimeter of the fire, USFS spokesman David Boyd told CBS4.

Boyd said considerable amounts of snow surround the fire and limit any potential of it escaping its lines.

"It's difficult to access (the fire) on foot in some places," he said.

Some 1,500 slash piles were torched Wednesday and Thursday in Keystone Gulch as "part of an important fuel reduction effort."

Although unplanned, Saturday's re-ignition eliminated even more fuels between the slash piles, cleaning out most of the 39-acre prescribed burn area of twigs and smaller branches that were too little effectively gather and stack in the slash piles, Boyd said.

Some standing trees did ignite during Saturday's event.

A skier shared video of the smoke plume he took from atop nearby Loveland Ski Area.

Wind gusts across the state approached 60 mph Saturday afternoon, per CBS4 Meteorologist Dave Aguilera.