Single Publication

Little Mesa Fire Update

Tuesday, August 22, 2023

Location: Approx. 15 miles west, southwest of Delta, CO, Dominguez Escalante National Conservation Area      

Discovered: July 31, 2023, 11:00 AM

Cause: Lightning

Estimated Size: 3,896 acres

Vegetation Type: Pinyon, Juniper, sagebrush, grass

Containment: 30%

Total Personnel:  35

NOTICE TO THE PUBLIC: Air operations may be conducted on the Little Mesa Fire. For your safety, please stay out of the Potholes Recreation Area. The helicopters are using this water source for fire suppression.

Current Situation: Conditions on the Little Mesa Fire were hot, dry and windy yesterday. Firefighters were forced to ignite along a two-track road on the southwestern end of the fire to protect the fire line against the winds produced by a storm cell that moved in from the southeast. All lines were held successfully. In order to prevent future use of the control line as a road, the excavator completed work on repairing the dozer lines that were created to suppress the fire. In addition, firefighters finished repairing fences damaged during fire suppression.

Today, firefighters will continue to cold-trail and mop up the fire edge. They also plan to tie in the black they created during yesterday’s firing operation into the Black Point Road to the south, if the weather is favorable.

Weather: Partly cloudy conditions are expected this morning with a chance of isolated showers this afternoon. Temperatures remain in the upper 80’s during the day with lows tonight around 60 degrees. Southwest winds 10-15 mph are expected this afternoon, with gusts up to 25 mph.

Today begins a trend of increasing moisture as a high pressure system to the east meets a low pressure system to the west over the area. The likelihood of thunderstorms and showers increases each day, with the greatest chance of widespread storms occurring on Thursday. Lightning, gusty outflow winds, and heavy rain are the greatest threats from any storm.

Evacuations and Closures: No evacuations have been issued. Temporary road closures are in place in Delta County on Dry Mesa Road at the intersection with Escalante Rim Road and on USFS Dry Mesa Road at Sawmill Mesa Road junction. The GMUG National Forests issued a forest closure order for the area around the Little Mesa Fire. Public access to the closure area is limited. Visit https://bit.ly/3YwXNz0 for more information.

Smoke:  Smoke is visible from surrounding areas and highways 50, 550, 92, 65, 141 and C37 Road. Go to fire.airnow.gov or colorado.gov/airquality/ to get updates on smoke conditions.

Aviation Safety:  Incident aircraft may be flying over the Little Mesa Fire air space. Fire aviation resources are flying at different altitudes and speeds. Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) or drones must never fly near wildfires. Remember if you fly, we can’t!