Colorado 61 Bull Draw Fire
Colorado
61 is on fire. Heads up for those heading out for Archery hunt.
and the divide road is closed in places
If your going to turn in your tag, PM me when your done.
too late for archery to turn in tags
I would make a natural disaster fire appeal, and then PM me after you turn it in.
September 15th seems optimistic but hopefully so. There is chatter about parts of the unit being closed for hunting season
Just saw on a couple other forums that 61 is closed. Can anyone confirm?
There is a community meeting tonight in Nucla. The national forest site doesn't say anything about a closure. Huge unit, I'd be surprised to close the whole thing!
If 61 tags get turned in, my elk hunting plans can change...
There is a community meeting tonight in Nucla. The national forest site doesn't say anything about a closure. Huge unit, I'd be surprised to close the whole thing!
If 61 tags get turned in, my elk hunting plans can change...
Hey guys, any word on if you can get to the divide forks camp ground? I am hunting unit 62. How far is the fire from that area?
Thanks guys.
Some parts of Unit 61 are closed. See link for map. Divide road is closed from Windy point to 17 miles North.
Divide forks campground is still accessible but only from the North.
The map shows that they have held the fire out of unit 62 so far. But it's close. It appears the divide road is the fire break. Ken
Thanks for the update guys. If you hear of anything just could you let me know? I will hopefully be heading up there Wednesday!
17th largest fire in Co history. yikes.
The Bull Draw Fire grew by 3,410 acres over a 24-hour period between Monday and Tuesday, and was 19 percent contained as of late Tuesday afternoon.
Tag holders should return 61 elk tags for reissue on the leftover list. Why bother with all that smoke LOL.
They have just expanded the closure all the way to Uranium Road to the north and Divide Road further north than that.
closure east into unit 62
Here is the new closure map. Ken
Any road closures going thru 62 into divide rd towards 61?
I have access to private land and a voucher every year. Just pay for the tag ;^) I typically do 1st rifle. Hopefully fire wil be contained by then.
Raining in the area and appears to be raining up there. Hope it's helping!
From radar yesterday it looked like they had some good thunder bumpers roll through.
Bull Draw Fire Statistics:
Start Date: July 29, 2018 Location: 12 miles northwest of Nucla, CO Size: 30,180 acres
Percent Contained: 24% Total Personnel: 308 Cause: Lightning
Special Notes: Today,members of the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Type 2 Team Black (Incident Commander – Shane Greer) are shadowing their counterparts on the Minnesota Incident Management Type 2 Blue Team. Each member of the Minnesota Team will be sharing their personal knowledge and experience in managing the Bull Draw Fire with their counterparts on the Rocky Mountain Team. This process ensures that the Rocky Mountain Team is fully prepared to take over management of the Bull Draw Fire at 6:00 am tomorrow morning. As the Minnesota Incident Management Type 2 Blue Team prepares to return home, we would like to thank the citizens, local agencies and businesses of this area for your overwhelming support during this incident.
Yesterday morning, four firefighters driving to the fireline were involved in a one-vehicle accident. Three firefighters were taken to the Delta County Hospital by ambulance, and one was later taken by private vehicle. All four crew members were treated and released. Further details of the incident are still pending.
Weather: Today’s weather outlook is for partly cloudy skies this morning, becoming mostly cloudy by afternoon with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms. Afternoon winds will be 7-12mph from the southwest with gusts to 18mph. High temperatures for the day are expected to be 69-74 on the ridge tops and 81-86 in the valleys. Relative humidity will drop to 20-25% this afternoon. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH has been issued for any part of the fire area underneath a passing thunderstorm.
Current Situation: The fire grew by 1,142 acres yesterday. This growth was mostly a result of the fire pushing farther up Long Canyon and Beaver Branch and from yesterday’s “burnout” operations along the Divide Road. Weather permitting, crews will resume burning out the unburned vegetation between the fire’s edge and our “indirect” fireline along the Divide Road. Crews continue to hold the fire west of the Divide Road.
Three masticators are thinning the forest edge and removing understory fuels along the Uranium and 19 ½ Roads as part of our strategy to contain the northwestern flank of the fire. As a contingency measure, crews are clearing vegetation, positioning pumpkins (2,000-3,000gal. portable water tanks) with pumps and laying out hose around structures to the northeast of the fire’s edge. Dozers and crews are building a contingency fireline between these structures and the fire perimeter.
Closures: BLM and National Forest lands, roads and trails affected by the Bull Draw Fire are closed to public use. For details go to:
https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/photos/COUPD/2018-07-30-1041-Bull-Draw-Fire/related_files/pict20180716-201028-0.jpeg
For early season hunters in Unit 61 who may be impacted by the Bull Draw Fire: If you have questions regarding your early season license options you can contact Colorado Parks & Wildlife at the Montrose office at 970-252-6000.
The Incident webpage has updated the containment to 32%, so things are looking a little better. Hopefully more rain this afternoon and evening.
^ from fires to mud. It’s all good.
They’re getting a good handle on the fire. Surrounding roads were open. Real quiet otherwise for opener.
I turned my elk tag in kept the bear tag.. Had a great week in OTC unit so all is good. I’ll get the tag next year.
Got email could turn in elk tag until day before season. Road 402 , Divide rd open 21 miles south from 141. My question is how far does 402 go south from rd 600 in 61?
Just came off the plateau tonight after a couple days of scouting the north end for my 2nd season 61 elk tag. There was a ton of smoke the last couple days as they said they were getting aggressive with some back burning etc. Spoke with the warden yesterday and he was optimistic. As long as the fire doesn’t burn any farther north and they reopened the divide road soon I’m planning on keeping my tag. Nothing like a little wildfire to make you stress out about how many preference points it took to draw the tag.
I was in the south part of 61 this past weekend. It is very dry. We need moisture. I went to Windy point and the road was closed and you could see the south end of the burn area off in the distance. I hoping for rain by the 2nd season. lots of bugling!
I hope they air seed the burn unit, hopefully with barley. Any bulls get arrowed?
Still curious to hear how the 2018 archery hunt went. A muzzle loader report would also be appreciated as to hunt the unit fared and what was seen, shot. I am likely to bowhunt it next year.
Still curious to hear how the 2018 archery hunt went. A muzzle loader report would also be appreciated as to hunt the unit fared and what was seen, shot. I am likely to bowhunt it next year.
A lot of people bailed on the hunt as did I. There was just too much of the unit shutdown and access was cut in half.
Feel bad for NR guys losing a ton of cash to preserve points.
Next year will be prime and better season dates.
