Schwachheim fire nears containment after burning 1,582 acres in Las Animas County

Ninety percent containment changes the picture around Trinidad, but it does not mean normal access is back yet. The Schwachheim fire had burned 1,582 acres in rugged terrain near the Colorado-New Mexico border by April 20, and crews were still working the last uncontained pocket near the creek bottom along the East Fork of Schwachheim Creek as the operation moved toward handoff to local control.

The fire started April 12 at 2:45 p.m. in the Lake Dorothey State Wildlife Area, about 14 miles southeast of Trinidad, and quickly proved difficult to stop because of the steep, broken country. Governor Jared Polis verbally declared a disaster emergency on April 13, activating the state emergency operations plan and directing the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management and Colorado Fire Prevention and Control to help with response and mitigation. Colorado Parks and Wildlife kept Lake Dorothey SWA closed during the active response, cutting off public recreation in the area.

Containment climbed step by step as crews built line, used firing operations and finished mop-up. The fire was listed at 1,003 acres and zero containment on April 15, then at 1,012 acres and 36% containment on April 16. By April 18 it remained 1,012 acres but had reached 63% containment. The acreage then jumped to 1,582 acres on April 19, a change fire managers said reflected firing operations on the northwest side, before containment reached 90% on April 20.

Phil Daniels served as incident commander on the final Colorado Incident Management Team update. The operation had 93 personnel on April 20 and 58 on April 21, a clear sign that unneeded resources were being demobilized as the fire came under control. The State Emergency Operations Center was still monitoring the fire and any resource requests on April 21.

For Las Animas County residents, the larger issue remains fire danger outside the burn scar. Stage 2 fire restrictions were still in effect in Trinidad, Aguilar, El Moro, Cokedale, Jansen and Hoehne, and Trinidad Lake State Park was posting the countywide ban on wood and charcoal fires. With dry conditions across southern Colorado, officials have treated the Schwachheim fire as a warning that the season is already active, even as the immediate threat around Lake Dorothey begins to ease.