U.S. Forest Service officials over the weekend acknowledged that a prescribed burn near Ouray could have sparked the Simms fire that has burned 313 acres and destroyed one home.
Angry residents, in a Saturday town hall meeting streamed on Facebook, confronted fire officials over the decision to conduct the fire mitigation operation during extremely dry and windy conditions.
“After all these red flag warnings, why? Why did you set the fire in the first place?” one resident asked.
Others told county officials that they called dispatch over and over last week to report smoke and flames. Fire officials said they had personnel patrolling the area, but left just before the flames sparked Thursday.