Re: Colorado - Raging, fast-moving wildfire continue to grow
INCIDENT UPDATED 6 MIN. AGO
The High Park Fire is approximately 15 miles west of Fort Collins and
has burned an estimated 49,763 acres to date. The western flank of the fire is active and continues to be an area of concern, particularly as it moves into a region that contains 70 percent beetle killed trees. Extreme fire behavior will continue in the West White Pine and East White Pine areas along the west flank of the fire. Firefighters worked through the night to protect homes. The fire remains north of the Buckhorn Road. With the help of retardant and water drops, the fire was kept south of Highway 14 in areas where it had not already crossed. Burnout operations in southern portions of the fire were able to reinforce firelines. Structure protection is ongoing throughout the fire area, including in the interior and along the perimeter. Additional firefighters have arrived with more than 1,263 personnel working on the fire with a 24-hour schedule with night shifts and day shifts.
Today's weather will be warmer with southwest winds gusting up to 20 mph out of the SW by midmorning.
Officials are informing homeowners about fire damage as it becomes available and the priority will be getting this information to residents first.
To date, 31 homeowners from the Stratton Park, Pine Acres and Poudre Canyon along the Front Range have been notified that their homes have been destroyed. The assessment is still underway and this number will continue to grow.
After the 3 p.m. citizens briefing, residents of Poudre Canyon, Boyd Gulch and Kings Canyon will be pulled aside and notified of damage to their homes.
Evaluations continue of the structures that have been damaged or destroyed in Rist Canyon, Paradise Park, Stove Prairie, Poudre Park, Old Flowers, Stratton Park, Kings Canyon, Cloudy Pass, Soldier Canyon and Mill Canyon. Firefighters will continue to evaluate the area subdivision by subdivision.
Soldier and Mill Canyon as well as Redstone Canyon and Buckstone Heights remain closed due to hot spots and fire activity in the area. Buckhorn Road also remains closed to Masonville.
Bonner Peaks and Bonner Springs subdivisions plus Ingleside Road are expected to open to residents only after noon today. Officials are evaluating re-opening the Cloudy Pass area and 29C. As of noon CR27, including Big Bear Road, will be open to residents with credentials with a road block at Big Bear Road. Some 50 National Guard members are assisting with roadblocks.
Official information will be posted on this page when roadblocks and evacuations are lifted.
New pre-evacuation alerts have been sent to residents in the Glacier View area to include the following area:
All of Glacier View (including the area north of County Road 74E), AND
The area south of County Road 74E between Hewlett Gulch Road to the east and County Road 68C to the west and Hwy 14 to the south
This is a pre-evacuation notice only, which is an alert to resident to be prepared and be alert. Fire behavior is increasing along the NW portion of the fire and firefighters may use some back burning if necessary to help manage the spread of fire. When this burning takes place it will create considerable smoke.
Evacuations have been lifted for residents in the Shoreline Drive area from north of County Road 38E from the west side of the reservoir to just east of County Road 25E. Residents will need to provide identification with proof of address in order to receive credentials allowing them into the area. These credentials can be obtained at the road block or at The Ranch. One form may be filled out to gain access for multiple vehicles, however, do not show up at road blocks expecting to gain access to property without proper credentials.
Evacuations also have been lifted for residents of the Bellvue area from County Road 27E to the east, excluding Brianna Lane and Suri Trail. This area does not have a road block. Credentials are not necessary to access these roads.
Also,
residents south of County Road 38E between Milner Ranch Road and Gindler Ranch Road NOW NEED to obtain credentials for vehicles entering that neighborhood. These are available at the road block for residents who have already re-entered the area or at the evacuation center.
Evacuated residents looking to evacuate animals must contact the humane society at 226-3647. Again, do not show up at road blocks to attempt to gain access to care for or evacuate animals.
Roads are closed south of CR74E
(this closure does not include CR74E). Residents only are allowed in this area. This road closure includes Hewlett Gulch Road, Deer Meadow Way, Gordon Creek Lane and all connecting roads in that area.
General evacuation area runs west of Horsetooth Reservoir, north of Masonville, east of Comanche Peak Wilderness and south of Hwy 14. Additional evacuation area includes area north of Hwy 14 from Hewlitt Gulch to 287 and north to Eagles Nest. For more specific orders see below.
Evacuation orders remain in place for the following areas:
- Pingree Park Road, Hourglass and Comanche reservoirs, east on Buckhorn Road up to and including Pennock Pass, NE to junction with Stove Prairie and Hwy 14; West to junction with Highway 15 and Pingree Park Road
-North of County Road 38E, from Horsetooth Reservoir to Redstone Canyon to Lory State park.
-Bonner Peaks subdivision.
-County Road 44H (Buckhorn Road) from County Road 27 to Pennock Pass and residents to the south approximately 3/4-1 mile.
-CR27E to Bellvue.
-Areas south and west of Bellvue to include the Lory State Park area, the Redstone Canyon area and Buckhorn Road up to the Stove Prairie School.
-Poudre Canyon from MM111 to MM118 on Highway 14. This means Poudre Canyon from Stove Prairie to MM118 is under mandatory evacuations.
-The area between CR27E and Stove Prairie Road and south through the entire Rist Canyon area including Davis Ranch Road, Whale Rock Road.
-South on CR44H 3 miles to just north of Stringtown Gulch Road, Paradise Park Road, Moose Horn Lane, Magic Lane and Spencer Mountain Road.
-Old Flowers Road from Stove Prairie Road to the 8000-block of Old Flowers Road.
-Stove Prairie Road north along County Road 27 to Highway 14, east along Highway 14 to approximately mile marker 111, southeast to Rist Canyon Fire Station 1, then back west to to include Wilderness Ridge Way, Rist Creek Road, Spring Valley Road and County Road 41 and all of the roads that run off of it.
-Hewlitt Gulch, King's Canyon area and Boyd Gulch Road.
Approximately 2,625 notifications (contacts, not residents) have been sent for evacuations on this fire.
Evacuated residents south of CR38E from Gindler Ranch Road west to Milner Ranch Road are being allowed to return to their homes as of noon Tuesday, June 12. Residents in this area who registered their cell phones with leta911.org should have received an automated message notifying them that they may now return. Some 380 reverse evacuation notifications were sent.
Media briefings at the staging area located Watson Lake State Wildlife Area in Bellvue. (From LaPorte, go 1 mile west on County Road 54G (the main road through town) to County Road 52E (Rist Canyon Road), then 1 mile west (left) to the property entrance on the west side of the river.) Thursday's media briefings are planned for 9:30 a.m. and 3 p.m.
Thursday's citizen briefing is 3 p.m. at the evacuation center at The Ranch. There has been one confirmed death of a 62-year-old woman as a result of the fire. For more information visit the Larimer County Sheriff's website.
Structure protection, public and firefighter safety and building line continues to be the highest priority.
Lightning has been confirmed as the cause of the fire.
Basic Information
<TABLE class=data cellSpacing=0 summary="This table displays basic incident information." cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TH style="WIDTH: 30%" class=cell0 scope=row>Incident Type</TH><TD class=cell3>Wildfire</TD></TR><TR><TH class=cell1 scope=row>Cause</TH><TD class=cell2>Lightning</TD></TR><TR><TH class=cell1 scope=row>Date of Origin</TH><TD class=cell2>Saturday June 09th, 2012 approx. 05:54 AM</TD></TR><TR><TH class=cell1 scope=row>Location</TH><TD class=cell2>appx. 15 miles west of Fort Collins</TD></TR><TR><TH class=cell1 scope=row>Incident Commander</TH><TD class=cell2>Bill Hahnenberg</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Current Situation
<TABLE class=data cellSpacing=0 summary="This table displays the situation information." cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TH style="WIDTH: 30%" class=cell0 scope=row>Total Personnel</TH><TD class=cell3>1,263</TD></TR><TR><TH class=cell1 scope=row>Size</TH><TD class=cell2>46,820 acres</TD></TR><TR><TH class=cell1 scope=row>Percent Contained</TH><TD class=cell2>10%</TD></TR><TR><TH class=cell1 scope=row>Fuels Involved</TH><TD class=cell2>10 Timber (litter and understory) Grass, Brush and Timber
</TD></TR><TR><TH class=cell1 scope=row>Fire Behavior</TH><TD class=cell2>Aggressive backing and flanking fire in grass, brush and timber fuels. Crown runs with medium range spotting noted on the south, west and north ends of the fire. Fire continues to move west into heavy beetle killed fuels.
</TD></TR><TR><TH class=cell1 scope=row>Significant Events</TH><TD class=cell2>Continued evacuations of 600+ residences; Road closures; Red flag warning was issued for the area by the Boulder NWS Office on 6/13/2012 at 1457 hours.
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Outlook
<TABLE class=data cellSpacing=0 summary="This table displays outlook information." cellPadding=0><TBODY><TR><TH style="WIDTH: 30%" class=cell0 scope=row>Planned Actions</TH><TD class=cell3>Continue direct and indirect line construction from anchor points; Continue to assist with evacuations; Active structure (point) protection; Triage and assessment of structures within the burned area; and begin burnout operations in the Poudre Canyon.
</TD></TR><TR><TH class=cell1 scope=row>Growth Potential</TH><TD class=cell2>Extreme
</TD></TR><TR><TH class=cell1 scope=row>Terrain Difficulty</TH><TD class=cell2>High
</TD></TR><TR><TH class=cell1 scope=row>Remarks</TH><TD class=cell2>One confirmed civilian (non-firefighter) fatality per Larimer County Sheriff's Office. Block 43: Dozer use is limited and only in non-Wilderness Areas. Significant community and general media interest; Colorado Army National Guard assisting with road closures and providing 2 tactical firefighting engines; Approximate ownership as of 6/12/2012 at 0600 hours = 77% state/private and 23% USFS. Damage assessment teams will begin to validate and identify damaged and destroyed structures.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2904/
