Incident Media Photographs
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![A burned grassy area is seen near a "San Juan National Forest" sign along a highway.](https://inciweb-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/max_2600x2600/public/2024-05/Portal%20Sign%20Post%20Burn.jpeg?VersionId=muGvMuH.eVaAqpzCaTyRXn66scv2x3kh&itok=LOh-ppBt)
Residents and visitors to the Boggy Draw area near Dolores will continue to see smoke this week from a prescribed burn on May 9. Fire personnel are patrolling the area and smoke will be visible as fuels dry out and temperatures warm up.
![A forest road is shown with light smoke drifting across it in the distance.](https://inciweb-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/max_2600x2600/public/2024-05/Dolores%20Norwood%20Road%20post%20burn_0.jpg?VersionId=waIf2ZQbJMCq9gCCtC2cwnZQo3gs7tXB&itok=0NKSJ34q)
Light smoke drifts across the Dolores-Norwood Road (FSR 526) the morning after a prescribed burn in the area. Smoke often settles into low-lying areas at night after a burn and motorists should drive with their lights on and use slower speeds when traveling through smoke.
![A charred tree trunk with orange flagging around it is seen in a recently burned area.](https://inciweb-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/max_2600x2600/public/2024-05/Flagged%20Hazard%20Tree.jpeg?VersionId=6bkUbHyyYJoJDXzyHvhZZQZdWZrdT7hf&itok=yYOelB2W)
An example of a "hazard tree" along the Bean Canyon Trail. Fire has burned some of the base of the tree which will make it more susceptible to toppling during high winds or after a heavy rain.
![A Ponderosa Pine is seen with some partially scorched pine needles.](https://inciweb-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/max_2600x2600/public/2024-05/raising%20base%20canopy%20height.jpeg?VersionId=SDEnxSnwQr11VAYWSiTARwo1KUu32rmF&itok=gU9VPrb8)
One of the objectives of prescribed fire in Ponderosa Pine forests is to raise the base height of the canopy. What that means is the fire either scorches and kills needles closer to the ground or burns off lower limbs completely. This will make it harder, in a wildfire, for the fire to climb up into the tree canopy.
![A sign post next to a trail with burned areas on either side of the trail.](https://inciweb-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/max_2600x2600/public/2024-05/DP%209%20Post%20Burn_0.jpg?VersionId=K8vNNInxLjp5iN.MGz3s6uNDJ8Eo2RCa&itok=If_vkWem)
Across the over 1100-acres treated with fire on May 9, effects were light to moderate in many areas, with only pine needles, cones, leaves and some dead wood and stumps burning. Even this amount of fuel reduction would lower the intensity of a wildfire if one were to burn into this area in the next few years. Less fuel means a less intense fire - something to consider as you do your spring yard clean up.
![A firefighting tool is shown inside a stump hole left after a prescribed fire.](https://inciweb-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/max_2600x2600/public/2024-05/Stump%20hole%20along%20Bean%20Canyon%20Trail.jpeg?VersionId=wobAa7.KzGcPo_zrXiXTHF3sYGgdlmUM&itok=RTNWThCs)
After a fire, prescribed or wildfire, many hazards remain even after the fire is out. One such hazard is a stump hole where the wood has burned away. These may be deeper than they appear and are not always as obvious as this one. Underground roots may also burn, leaving the ground around stumps and stump holes unstable.
![Two firefighters, one using a chain saw, are seen along a forest road workng to cut up a felled hazard tree.](https://inciweb-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/max_2600x2600/public/2024-05/IMG_2052.jpeg?VersionId=g8GU7mwkLIwTxivTqMXCK_H4JaUvFfK9&itok=0nNiXj3O)
Two firefighters work to cut up a hazard tree along Forest System Road 526 (the Dolores-Norwood Road).
![A ponderosa pine with an orange sign is in the foreground left with a burned area on a slope to the right.](https://inciweb-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/max_2600x2600/public/2024-05/Drop%20Point%204%20looking%20upslope.jpeg?VersionId=nOevVOyy7Qc5xWfdf1iP4ID678wtd8yl&itok=4OVwWCHJ)
The bottom of Bean Canyon had not seen any fire for many years until May 9. Canyons can intensify wildfires by funneling and intensifying any wind. Removing some of the fuel from the canyon will lower that intensity if an wildfire happens in the canyon.
![Smoke rises above the horizon and a portion of a reservoir is visible in the foreground.](https://inciweb-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/max_2600x2600/public/2024-05/from%20Canyon%20of%20the%20Ancients.jpg?VersionId=RZXQexxSsbu6g9eN9RBCgLwzgI0Z.ONm&itok=23s2tvmG)
Smoke from the spring 2024 Boggy Draw prescribed burn is seen on the evening of May 7 from a spot overlooking McPhee Reservoir, near Dolores.
![An orange sign marking the boundary of a prescribed fire is shown, stapled to a pine tree, with the ground smoking along a road in the distance.](https://inciweb-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/max_2600x2600/public/2024-05/sign.jpg?VersionId=S_syyIqWR05vppulwu4yrv2G11ep8aPp&itok=nMK7LcLz)
Three "burn units" totaling about 1133 acres were successfully treated with fire on May 9th, 2024 in the Boggy Draw are of the Dolores Ranger District.
![Firefighters are seen standing on a steep slope during a prescribed burn with a fire hose visible in the foreground.](https://inciweb-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/max_2600x2600/public/2024-05/Little%20Bean_0.jpg?VersionId=lQAuREY02sWQ6nwVmtLruvy4swo_7n76&itok=QLDBRUtR)
Firefighters carefully bring fire down a steep slope in Little Bean Canyon on the Dolores Ranger District of the San Juan National Forest on May 9, 2024.
![A Ponderosa Pine forest is shown with patches of burned areas around some of the trees with green grass between.](https://inciweb-prod-media-bucket.s3.us-gov-west-1.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/styles/max_2600x2600/public/2024-05/post%20burn%20in%20Ponderosa.jpg?VersionId=f8tUomHdn.UOJX1iMYRbziOGQCpBBmbB&itok=jd5eWCkr)
The May 9th prescribed burn was, in part, what is referred to as a "maintenance burn." The idea is to mimic what nature did before we started putting out lightning fires. That means regular re-introduction of fire to clear out dead wood, needles and leaves, and thin out brush and some trees.