Single Publication

Trail Springs and Mill Creek 2 Fires

Update: November 18, 2023

Type 4, Incident Commander Levi Sensenig, 20 Personnel

This will be the final regularly distributed Update for the Trail Springs and Mill Creek 2 Fires. The San Juan National Forest Facebook page and the Inciweb pages for both fires will continue to provide updates on any significant developments, as warranted. 

Trail Springs Fire | Size: 1358 Acres | Containment: 43% | Cause: Lightning

The fire is located 12 miles northwest of Pagosa Springs, on Forest land east of West Devil Creek. Higher humidity and some light rainfall on Thursday have helped reduce fire activity and smoke output. More precipitation is expected on Saturday and Sunday. The fire is mostly burning through grasses, brush and dead and down fuels, and fire activity is within the defined management area of the fire.  Firefighters have established containment line to protect values to the east.  Crews have also been repairing ground where fireline had been established, but is no longer needed.  The San Juan Type 4 team will continue to patrol the fire area and firefighters are also prepared to respond to any new fires within the Pagosa Ranger District.

Mill Creek 2 Fire |
Size: 150 Acres | Containment: 0% | Cause: Human

The fire is located in steep, rugged, terrain near the border of the South San Juan Wilderness Area, northeast of Pagosa Springs. Precipitation this week helped reduced smoke output, and rain and snow are possible over the weekend. The fire has been slowly creeping through isolated pockets of dead and down wood on the mountain. No homes, ranches or other significant values are at risk.  Firefighters will continue to closely watch fire activity.

Weather:  

Two systems move through over the weekend, bringing potential rain and thundershowers Saturday afternoon, and then on Sunday, rain turning to snow.  High temps Saturday around 40, with SW winds that could become gusty and erratic near Thunderstorms. Colder on Sunday with rain turning to snow and gusty winds out of the SW.

San Juan NF Temporary Closures: An area closure is in place involving roads and trails in or near the Trail Springs Fire area (Middle Mountain area). Details of the closure are in the Closures section of this Inciweb site, and on the “Alerts and Notices” page of the Forest website: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/sanjuan/alerts-notices 

Fire Information: 970-426-5370 (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sanjuannationalforest