Mineral County, CO

PHOTO ABOVE: Early morning smoke above Fourmile Road, May 18, 2022. Read the our initial Plumtaw Fire story, beginning on May 17, here. Sitting on the porch after a pleasant lunch, I noticed the wind starting to pick up. Not something that would normally concern me. But I was on...

The Plumtaw fire north of Pagosa Springs has grown to over 600 acres and was still zero percent contained, the U.S. Forest Service announced Wednesday. The agency said the fire had reached Fourmile Road, and firefighters were trying to stop the flames from spreading west of the road. Mandatory evacuation orders were in effect for the Lost Valley of the San Juans community in Mineral County. Investigators have not determined what caused the fire.

A new wildfire has rapidly grown near Pagosa Springs, in southwest Colorado, prompting mandatory evacuations. Sparking on Tuesday with the cause currently under investigation, the 'Plumtaw Fire' was last estimated at 600 acres yesterday evening at about 9 PM. This estimate was up from the 323 acres that was reported around 6 PM, the 50 to 70 acres that was reported around 5 PM, and the 10 acres that was reported around 3 PM. A Wednesday morning update on InciWeb announced that the fire did grow more overnight without a specific estimate on additional acreage, though a tweet from the Forest Service stated that the blaze has now "reached Fourmile Road."

MINERAL COUNTY — The Mineral County Dental Clinic changed hands on May 16. The practice and the equipment from the clinic were sold to Dr. Eric Smith and Dental Hygienist Leslie Leggett. The decision to sell the clinic first established in 2014 by Mineral County was one that took...

ARCHULETA COUNTY, Colo. (KRDO) -- Crews are battling a wildfire burning near Pagosa Springs that's caused an evacuation order. Officials say the Plumtaw Fire is burning 4.75 miles northwest of the Pagosa Springs airport, north of Plumtaw Road. According to the San Juan National Forest, an evacuation order has been...

As soon as I walked in the door at 3pm — after attending the Tuesday, May 17 meeting of the Archuleta Board of County Commissioners — my son-in-law Chris asked me if I’d seen the fire. “What fire?”. He led me out the back door, and pointed...

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - Existing striping and pavement markings are due for a refresh across southwestern Colorado. In partnership with Straight Stripe Painting Inc., the Colorado Department of Transportation will be restriping roads in Mineral, Chaffee, Park, Ouray, and San Juan counties. Work will begin on May 16, on a segment of U.S. 550 near Silverton, Colorado, and work hours will be 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

San Luis Valley Field Office to enter Stage 1 fire restrictions. The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) San Luis Valley Field Office will enter into Stage 1 fire restrictions tomorrow, May 6, due to dry conditions and high fire danger. The fire restrictions apply to all BLM-administered public lands within the boundaries of Alamosa, Conejos, Saguache, Rio Grande, Mineral, and Costilla counties.

CREEDE — Mineral County Search and Rescue will be helping to promote a new program for elementary school students this year. In a meeting on May 2, Mineral County Emergency Manager Terry Wetherill briefed Mineral County Commissioners on the Hug a Tree program and what he will be doing through Mineral County Search and Rescue to supply students with a small survival pack and teach them the fundamentals of how to survive if they should become lost or separated from family while out in the wilderness.

MINERAL COUNTY — The Mineral County 4-H Club participated in Wolf Creek Ski Area’s School Program. This program offered all children enrolled in the 4-H Club a ski lift ticket, equipment rental and a skiing or snowboarding lesson — $20 for skiers or $40 for snowboarders. This program allows children the opportunity to see what skiing and snowboarding are about.

MINERAL COUNTY — Dawn Melgares, San Luis Valley Housing Coalition executive director, and Andrew Atchley, with the Department of Local Affairs Housing Division, met with Mineral County Commissioners for a public question-and-answer meeting on Monday, April 4. It was recently announced by the SLV Housing Coalition that Mineral County...

MINERAL COUNTY — Two people were flown to Denver hospitals following a single-vehicle accident on March 27 on US Highway 160 near milepost 179.3 in Mineral County, Colorado State Patrol reported. At approximately 6:05 a.m., CSP responded to a one-vehicle crash on US Highway 160 near milepost 179.3. The...

MINERAL COUNTY — To better understand the short-term rental market in Mineral County, the Mineral County Commissioners voted to hire a company to help them track and locate short-term rentals in the area. Mineral County Commissioners approved hiring Rentalscape to do what is termed a deep-dive investigation into the...