Fire burning north of Durango closes national forest, continues to burn over 23,300 acres

The 416 fire is now 15 percent contained and has burned over 23,300 acres. Due to extreme fire danger, the San Juan National Forest shutdown Tuesday.

Smoke from the fire made its way all the way up to El Paso County. El Paso County officials say, the haze across southern Colorado Tuesday morning was most likely smoke from the 416 fire.

San Juan National Forest managers plan to close hundreds of miles of trails and thousands of miles of back roads to hikers, bikers, horseback riders and campers. They want to prevent the possibility of an abandoned campfire or any other spark from starting a wildfire that could quickly spread in bone-dry vegetation and be pushed by hot, windy weather.

It’s the first full closure of a national forest in Colorado since 2002 – another very dry year – and will remain in place until sufficient precipitation eases the fire danger.

The move comes as the residents of over 2,000 homes have been forced to evacuate because of a fire that started June 1 in the forest and has spread to about 35 square miles.