Mesa Verde Wildfire Intensifies, Spreads Into Indian Reservation

A wildfire that had already burned 3,500 acres made a 3-mile run overnight, spreading into nearby land on the Ute Mountain Ute reservation.

The park remained closed as more than 350 firefighters backed by slurry-dropping planes and helicopters struggled to reach flames moving aggressively in the canyons inside the park.

Fire officials were still working to map the size of the fire.

“When they get this big, you don’t put them out,” said fire officer Tim Oliverious of the National Park Service. “It will take a major change in the weather, topography or fuels, and right now the forces are lined up in favor of the fire.”

None of the park’s well-known ancient Indian ruins, cliff dwellings or other attractions were damaged, and buried archeological sites in the area of the fire were expected to survive, Oliverious said.

Firefighters were afraid that a historical cabin and fire lookout tower had been damaged Friday.

The fire was so intense that it was creating powerful updrafts, in effect making its own weather rather than being pushed by winds; it burned intensely into the night and early morning, which is unusual for wildfires, said Mike Frary, a fire behavior specialist.

“The live fuels are drier than normal and the heavy fuels are drier than kiln dry lumber,” Frary said.

The fire, apparently caused by lightning, was burning juniper, pinon and oak brush in rugged terrain on the eastern boundary of the park, 260 miles southwest of Denver.

No injuries were reported.

Officials closed the park Thursday afternoon as the fire grew from 50 acres to 500 acres in about three hours. About 1,000 tourists were evacuated, but a few stayed behind at the Far View Lodge. All park visitors had been evacuated by Saturday and some National Park Service employees had evacuated.

“I could see the red glow from my window,” said Linda Towle, chief researcher in the park.

Pueblo Indians built cliff dwellings in the canyons of Mesa Verde. The park was the first cultural park in the National Park system.