Hayman Contained
The Forest Service has announced today that the Hayman fire is 100% contained. This does not mean that the fire is out. It simply means that sufficient fire barriers have been constructed around the fire and around areas within the larger fire boundary to prevent the fire from spreading. what remains are hot spots within the boundary that will be handled as time and resources permit. The reources will primarily be local fire departments. If the smoldering areas are on private land, it is up to the local departments to handle those with their existing funding. If the smoldering areas are on publiuc lands (state or federal), then the responsible agency will pay the local departments to either monitor or extinguish those fires.

The forest service has stated that this fire will not be "out" until mother nature puts it out - until the summer rains come or the fall snow flies. Why? Because some of the areas are too remote and dangerous to be attacked by people on the ground and it would be too costly to try more water drops. Those helicopters and planes are needed in other areas where fires are threatening life and property.

So essentially, what "containment" means is that Hayman is no longer an imminent threat to life and property. However, it will be watched and any areas that can be worked will be.

The cleanup is continuing: people resuming their lives and people replanting the burned areas. One lucky break is that the replanting can start before our summer monsoons begin. They should be somewhat established before winter snows come.

Yahoo! News - Contract Firefighter Charged in Arizona Fire
What is with this?? We've got firefighters setting these things all over the place, it seems! Enough already! This makes me nervous as all get out to think about the folks that are supposed to be putting these things out lighting them!!

Smoke
It is quite smoky today in Four Mile!

Though the Hayman fire is 90% contained, it is still burning slowly along the western edge in the Lost Creek Wilderness.

There are five fires burning in Colorado northwest of us:

• Hayman (NW of Lake George)
  
• Coal Seam (near Glenwood Springs)
  
• Spring Creek (near Silt)
  
• Pinyon Ridge (near Meeker)
  
• Bear (near Dinosaur Nat'l Mon)
  

and there are four fires burning to the southwest:

• Million (near South Fork)
  
• Missionary Ridge & Valley (near Durango)
  
• West Beaver (S. of Norwood, CO, in the Uncompahgre Forest)
  
• Rodeo-Chediski (near Show Low, AZ)
  

so I guess I'm not too surprised that it is smokey!!!

In addition there were three new fires reported in Colorado on Saturday:

• Fountain Gulch - 1 mile NE of Idaho Springs, ~60 acres
  
• Fish Creek - wilderness area in Larimer County, 25 acres
  
• Soap Creek - west of Gunnison, northwest of Blue Mesa, 25-30 acres
  

Hopefully these new ones will be controlled shortly.

The only fire near Four Mile is Hayman. The active area is in the Lost Creek Wilderness, so Hayman is not threatening homes any longer.