The Arapaho National Forest announced Oct. 11 that its fire managers and partners will look to continue the Blue Ridge prescribed fire project near Cottonwood Pass this month. Operations could resume as early as Oct. 20, depending on environmental conditions like wind speed, humidity and smoke dispersion.

The Blue Ridge project covers an area that runs north to south from near Granby towards Fraser, between the East Troublesome, Church Park and Williams Fork fire burn areas. In addition to environmental factors, firefighting resource logistics go into the decision to start a prescribed fire.

In previous years, the project has burned around 500 acres. The fire managers plan to burn up to 400 acres this fall over multiple days, starting in Big Meadows south of Cottonwood Pass. While workers minimize the impacts of smoke as much as possible, it could be visible in parts of the county like Granby, Parshall and the Fraser Valley.

The multi-year project aims to burn a total of approximately 11,652 acres, completing anywhere from 100 and 2,000 acres per year, depending on conditions.