Lighting sparks small fire in the Stemple Pass area

Lightning that rolled through the Lincoln area Monday night ignited a small fire near the Stemple Pass area

The three-acre fire saw group torching at about 9 p.m. but was only smoldering by Tuesday at noon.

Lincoln District Ranger Michael Stansberry told the BVD that the blaze, called the Dalton Fire, was located along the Helmville-Gould trail near the area of last year's 467 Fire, but was less accessible.

"We are choosing not to take heavy equipment in there at this point, because it's so deep," Stansberry said.

Instead, they are taking a different approach.

"Because we can't get heavy equipment in on this one on the Continental Divide, we're going to hit it hard with air resources," he said.

Stansberry said the fire was just smoldering Tuesday, but with Red Flag conditions to the east of the divide and likely for the Lincoln area, they are going to hit it with as much retardant as possible.

The Stonewall Lookout picked up another possible fire in the Ogden Mountain area as well, but Stansberry said nothing had reappeared by Tuesday at noon.

As of Tuesday, Stansberry said he wasn't planning on holding a public meeting regarding the fire yet, but he said he may do so should conditions or community concern warrant.