COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, November 15, 2022— As part of the ongoing hazardous fuels reduction project the Pikes Peak Ranger District will conduct prescribed fire pile burns on National Forest lands in El Paso and Teller Counties. If conditions permit, ignition of piles may occur as soon as December 2022 and continue through March 2023.
The names and locations of the proposed pile burns on the Pikes Peak Ranger District are as follows:
• Phantom Creek and Broken Wheel – several locations north of Divide, Colorado, along County Road 51 and along the 717 trails between the Phantom Creek trailhead and Forest Service Road 355.
• 331 – the north-northeast side of Pikes Peak along Pikes Peak Highway near Crowe Gulch trailhead off Forest Service Road 331.
• Painted Rocks – north of Woodland Park, Colorado, near Highway 67 just off Painted Rocks Road (County Road 78).
• Skelton – west of Woodland Park, Colorado, on Highway 24 near Charis Bible College on County Road 25 and FSR 308.
• Monument Fire Center – west of the town of Monument, Colorado, at the Monument Fire Center.
• Mothball, Ensign Gulch, Carrol Lakes, Rainbow Gulch, and Woodland Park Work Center – east of Woodland Park, Colorado, off Rampart Range Road between Forest Service Roads 315 and 306.
• Silver Trident – northeast of Woodland Park along FSR 300 and 320 road.
• Manitou Experimental Forest – Manitou Experimental Forest administrative site.
• West Schubarth – east of Woodland off FSR 307.
To facilitate burning, each of the selected areas have been prepared in advance to ensure safe fire operations. The piles in these areas consist of small trees as well as treetops and limbs cut and piled during ongoing hazardous fuels reduction projects around recreation areas, reservoirs, and private property. These prescribed burns will help improve forest health as well as reduce the heavy fuel loading that poses a safety threat to firefighters suppressing wildfires and the recreating public in the area.
Ignitions will occur only when weather and fuel conditions meet prescriptive parameters and when smoke impacts can be managed within established requirements. Ignition and burning operations may continue for several days depending on the number of piles being burned. Fire personnel will monitor the burns until the fires are completely out.
Smoke is a natural byproduct of fire, and some amounts are unavoidable. However, fire managers and prescribed fire specialists do attempt to minimize smoke impact to the public during prescribed burning. Once burning begins, expect smoke to be visible from Woodland Park, Colorado Springs, and Monument. Smoke may also linger over the burn areas for a few days following initial ignitions. For more information on smoke and health, please visit: https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/wood-smoke-and-health.
Follow @PSICC_NF on Twitter for up-to-date information on this and other topics. Use #PikesPeakRD for Pikes Peak Ranger District for prescribed fire notifications. For more fire information resources, please visit our website https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/psicc/fire/?cid=fseprd667411.
