October 25, 2020 | 8:10 a.m. MDT
Firefighters on the Cameron Peak Fire tasked with handling the portion of the East Troublesome Fire threatening Estes Park did some serious firefighting Saturday, stopping the fire before it could spread into the wildland urban interface. They used existing fuel treatment areas where the vegetation had been thinned or removed, as an anchor from which to conduct a firing operation to widen the buffer between the fire and the community.
Paul Delmerico, the Operations Section Chief, Saturday night:
The fuels treatments helped significantly. Those fuels treatments are what gave us a really good defensive start to our day today when we saw that. It gave us something to work off of and to build off of.
The fire made a run just north of Moraine Park.Our firefighters picked up that [fuel treatment] and did a firing operation and held it just north of Moraine Park and then we had a couple of hand crews in there today and we picked that up with direct hand line. We were able to go up and over the ridge and back down and tie it in with existing road systems.
Our firefighters out there are doing a heck of a job. We had a really good day today, considering the fuel conditions and the weather conditions.
Saturday evening rain followed by snow put at least a pause on the fire activity. Six to twelve inches are in the forecast through Monday. The final status of the fire will depend on the weather over the next several weeks. If it continues to be wet, it could be the demise of the fire; however, fires can sometimes survive for months under a blanket of snow. If the humidity continues to be very low with no additional precipitation much of the snow could evaporate (or sublimate) reducing how much water moves into the vegetation and the soil.
Firefighters were also successful on the portion of the East Troublesome Fire west of the Continental Divide before the rain and/or snow began Saturday evening. The strong winds did not result in any major catastrophic runs.
Our family started coming to Moraine Park before Rocky Mountain National Park
was created. We drove out from Des Moines, Iowa in 1912 and stayed at Stead’s
Ranch which has been torn down since 1966. My father worked at a resort in
1920, the last building still standing is now the Museum. I was brought to
Sprague’s Lodge, on the Bear Lake Road, in 1942 during WWII and met Abner
Sprague as a 4-year-old. With history like this, our family appreciates all the
firefighters have done to preserve over 100 years of memories! Some of us
live in Estes Park and the Denver, Colorado area.
My husband and I want to express our deepest appreciation and gratitude for all of the brave men and women fighting the fires near Estes Park! We are long time Coloradans and recent property owners in Estes Park. Our place is also off Fish Hatchery, a place we feel blessed to visit and bask in the beauty from Fall River and the mountains beyond. We have been praying along with countless others for the safely of the firefighters, residents, and this moisture!!!
You are all heroes!!!
XOXO
Very true about the long-term analysis. The Fern Creek Fire of 2012, which this one burned into, had a couple active runs from October – mid-December even after a couple snows.
My Grandparents built a cabin outside of Grand Lake, it was built in 1945. According to the map, it’s gone. There was insurance & both of my Grandparents are gone so they won’t be heartbroken by it’s loss. The rest of us will be & I guess we will have to go up & look soon.
Deep appreciation for your understanding and deliverance of the strategy of wilderness fire fighting.
We have an old cabin on the Old Fall River Road (or Fish Hatchery Road) just east of the north entrance from Estes. We have insurance so the financial part is not a factor as much as the lovely meadow just south of Harmony, which has been something I have watched for over 70 years…it is a pure meadow with only a few evergreens and a place for so much wildlife from Deer Mountain. We own property to Fall River and have a cam which shows us the activity of elk and bears and turkeys. Just knowing that right now Moraine Park is not burning is a blessing. Thank you for keeping us informed. Our family has been in the valley since 1946 so this is more than a tourist attraction as we have caught fish and taken photos and climbed Long’s and ridden horses and eaten picnics at Bear Lake and climbed up the old Fall River Road to the top and gone into the backcountry. So many memories. We also lived through the beetle invasion for years and know the fuel supply. Thankful that you are our interpreter during this phase of forest maturing.
Driven up Fall River Road (one way:) many times. I’m so sorry to hear of property and wildlife lost.