Residents of the Pikes Peak region should expect to see smoke from last week’s prescribed burn at Pike National Forest for a few more days, according to officials from the U.S. Forest Service.

Crews from the federal agency – aided by local fire crews from El Paso County, Colorado Springs, Cripple Creek, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – set controlled fires on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, according to Forest Service fuels planner Christina Barba.

All told, a total of 2,000 acres, or about 3 square miles, were burned, Barba said.

“It’s more acres than we’ve done in the past,” she said. “The purpose of a prescribed burn is to reduce surface fuels. It’s the most effective way to reduce fire behavior, because it reduces fire intensity.

The burn operation consumed a variety of fuels, including grass, pine litter, and left over logs from previous forest thinning operations. Some of those fuels are still burning, according to the Forest Service.

“Most of what’s still burning now is larger logs within the (burn zone),” Barba said. “So folks should expect to see smoke for probably another week or so.”

The flames should diminish over the next few days as the larger fuels are consumed. Barba said that, weather permitting, the controlled fire should continue to burn until the fuels dissipate.

“Our goal is to let it burn as much of the surface fuel as we can, so that any future fires within that area would be very small, and wouldn’t go anywhere,” she said.

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