The Boulder Office of Emergency Management has released a preliminary list of the structures that were destroyed or damaged in the Calwood Fire. The list includes 23 homes described as a total loss. The process is ongoing and more buildings may be added as the surveys continue.
The weather on Sunday stopped the spread of the Calwood Fire which has burned 8,788 acres seven miles north-northwest of Boulder. Weather stations in the area recorded one or two hundredths of an inch of precipitation during the day while the humidity ranged in the 80s or 90s.
To see all articles on Wildfire Today about the Calwood Fire including the most recent, click here.
Firefighting aircraft were hampered by the weather in the morning but were back in the air in the afternoon.
The Highway 36 camera near Altona showed rain on the lens and wet pavement Sunday morning.
The weather forecast is similar to the one for the Lefthand Fire — strong winds out of the west Sunday night at 16 mph gusting at 25 to 30 mph with the humidity in the 50s. For Monday expect decreasing west winds of 10 mph gusting to 17 while the RH drops to the low 20s. Tuesday will be about the same with slightly stronger west winds.
Updated October 18, 2020 | 7:16 a.m. MDT
The perimeter of the Calwood Fire in the map above was collected by a U.S. Forest Service fixed wing aircraft at 10:58 p.m. MDT October 17. The preliminary estimated size at that time was 8,788 acres. The red shaded areas represent intense heat.
Boulder County has published a map with evacuation information.
Updated October 17, 2020 | 6:04 p.m. MDT
Map of the Calwood Fire at 2:44 p.m. MDT Oct. 17, 2020.
A fixed wing aircraft determined at 4 p.m. Saturday that the Calwood Fire had burned 6,600 acres.
Updated October 17, 2020 | 5:41 p.m. MDT
Map of the Calwood Fire from Colorado’s Multi-Mission Aircraft, the afternoon of Oct. 17, 2020. Spot fires had reached Highway 36 to the east. Time uncertain.
Colorado’s Multi-Mission Aircraft collected the data in the map above. The time on Saturday afternoon is not certain. The crew estimates the Calwood Fire had at that time burned about 3,300 acres. Spot fires have reached Highway 36 to the east.
Boulder County has information about evacuations that have been ordered.
The map above shows the perimeter of the Creek Fire collected by a mapping aircraft (N170WL) at 10:30 p.m. PDT Oct. 17, 2020. The red shaded areas represent intense heat. During the last 24 hours there was growth on the east side northwest of Mono Hot Springs. The preliminary updated size is 348,085 acres.
October 17, 2020 | 11:40 a.m. PDT
We are trying something new on Wildfire Today — creating a Google Map containing the perimeter of the Creek Fire. One of the main differences from our usual maps is that you can zoom in to see more detail. But keep in mind the perimeter is the approximate location, and can rapidly change as the fire spreads. The data came, as usual, from an overnight USFS fixed wing mapping flight. Let us know your thoughts about this type of map.
The 346,477-acre Creek Fire is the largest fire in the recorded history of California, when comparing fires that are not part of a complex or multiple fires that merged. It is about 22 air miles northeast of Fresno.
Most of the spread of the fire over the last two days has been on the northeast side, which compared to the overall size of the blaze seems like a relatively small area, but it is generating large quantities of smoke affecting much of Central California.
Forecast for wildfire smoke at 2 a.m. MDT October 18, 2020.
Firefighters make firelines by removing vegetation, so that the fire will burn up to the line and stop, since there is nothing left to burn. Roads and natural barriers can also be used. On October 12 there were 600 miles of fireline on the Creek Fire:
Dozer Lines: 363
Handline (constructed by hand crews): 87
Roads as Line: 150
Resources assigned to the fire include 19 hand crews, 43 fire engines and 13 helicopters, for a total of 983 personnel.
The incident management team reports that 105 residences and 508 other structures have been destroyed.
The map above shows the perimeter of the Cameron Peak Fire collected by a USFS fixed wing aircraft at 9:47 p.m. MDT Oct. 17, 2020. The red shaded areas represent intense heat. Processed by Wildfire Today. The preliminary mapped size was 203,251 acres, a number that may be fine-tuned later.
Updated October 17, 2020 | 12:50 p.m. MDT
We are trying something new on Wildfire Today — creating a Google Map containing the perimeter of the Cameron Peak Fire. One of the main differences from our usual maps is that you can zoom in to see more detail. But keep in mind the perimeter is the approximate location, and can rapidly change as the fire spreads. The data came, as usual, from an overnight USFS fixed wing mapping flight. Let us know your thoughts about this type of map.
Updated October 17, 2020 | 7:53 a.m. MDT
Map of the active part of the Cameron Peak Fire. The red line was the perimeter at 9:58 p.m. MDT October 15, 2020. The white line was the perimeter about 24 hours before.
Strong winds throughout Friday night pushed the Cameron Peak Fire to the south and east. After 7 p.m. sustained wind speeds at the Colorado State University Mountain Campus weather station were from the west-southwest at 23 to 39 mph gusting at 35 to 66 mph.
Extreme fire behavior and spotting a mile ahead has been reported by firefighters. Approximately 31,220 structures are threatened.
In light of the strong winds, the incident management team ordered an additional 200 structural fire engines with associated supervisory personnel.
Since the fire started August 13, four residences and 96 other structures have been destroyed.
A fixed wing aircraft mapping flight at 10:20 p.m. Friday showed the fire edge had spread about two miles to the south over the previous 24 hours. Satellite overflights around 3 a.m. showed significant additional heat to the south, but the sensors could have been detecting heat in the smoke column, rather than fire on the ground.
The weather forecast for the east side of the fire on Saturday predicts sustained 22 to 28 mph winds out of the west-northwest gusting at 37 to 46 mph. The high temperature should be 60 degrees with 28 percent relative humidity. The wind will decrease after sunset, slowing to 3 to 5 mph out of the south or southwest by 12 p.m.
The mapping flight at 10:20 p.m. Friday estimated the size of the Cameron Peak Fire at 187,537 acres, but that figure may be fine-tuned by the incident management team, especially if they include fire spread that occurred after the flight.
Cameron Peak Fire, as seen from the Estes Park YMCA October 16, 2020. InciWeb.
Updated October 16, 2020 | 9 p.m. MDT
Map of the Cameron Peak Fire. The red line was the perimeter at 9:58 p.m. MDT October 15, 2020. The red dots represent heat detected by a satellite at 1:24 p.m. MDT October 16, 2020.
The Cameron Peak Fire west of Fort Collins, Colorado has been extremely active on Friday, forcing firefighters to withdraw for their own safety from Miller Creek, The Retreat, and Storm Mountain.
Additional mandatory evacuations were ordered for Highway 34 from the Dam Store to just west of Soul Shine Road. More voluntary evacuations are also in effect. Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority (LETA) has details about the evacuations. NOCOALERT has maps of the areas.
Friday evening the incident management team reported the fire had burned 173,536 acres.
Cameron Peak Fire, from the Estes Park Safeway 10-16-2020. InciWeb.
Since 1 a.m. on Friday the weather has been very favorable for rapid fire spread. Overnight a weather station at the Colorado State University Mountain Campus recorded 30 degrees, relative humidity in the mid-teens, and a 10 mph west wind gusting at 20 to 30 mph.
Conditions worsened after sunrise Friday with temperature in the 50s, humidity remaining in the mid-teens, and 10 to 30 mph southwest to west winds gusting at 22 to 48 mph. By 6 p.m. the wind had calmed a bit — 10 mph with gusts of 20 to 35 mph.
The weather forecast for the east side of the Cameron Peak Fire calls for very strong winds Friday night through 10 p.m. Saturday, 22 to 29 mph out of the west or northwest gusting at 29 to 46 mph. The high temperature will be in the low 60s Saturday and around 50 Sunday. The relative humidity will be around 30 percent Saturday and in the high 40s Sunday. These conditions could be favorable to additional spread of the fire to the east Friday night and Saturday.
Breezy conditions take over Sunday at noon through Tuesday with 8 to 10 mph winds out of the west gusting at 17 to 22 mph. The minimum humidity will be around 40 percent.
Cameron Peak Fire by @Apeersenson. Posted at 5:29 p.m. MDT 10-16-2020.Cameron Peak Fire. Satellite photo at 1:51 p.m. MDT 10-16-2020.Cameron Peak Fire smoke forecast for 11 p.m. Friday 10-16-2020.
A disaster declaration allows cost-sharing for damage, cleanup and rebuilding
Updated October 16, 2020 | 3:25 p.m. MDT
Friday afternoon the Trump administration reversed their decision to deny the request submitted by California for a disaster declaration for six destructive wildfires in 2020.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the President has approved California’s request for a Major Disaster Declaration to bolster the state’s emergency response to wildfires across the state and support impacted residents in Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Mendocino, San Bernardino, San Diego and Siskiyou counties.
“Just got off the phone with President Trump who has approved our Major Disaster Declaration request. Grateful for his quick response,” said Governor Newsom.
A Presidential Major Disaster Declaration helps people in the impacted counties through eligibility for support including crisis counseling, housing and unemployment assistance and legal services. It also provides federal assistance to help state, tribal and local governments fund emergency response, recovery and protective measures.
October 16, 2020 | 8:20 a.m. PDT
The Trump administration has denied the request submitted by California for a disaster declaration for six destructive wildfires in 2020. A declaration would allow cost-sharing for damage, cleanup and rebuilding between the state and federal government. The state plans to appeal the decision.
According to data compiled by Wildfire Today from InciWeb and the National Interagency Fire Center, the six fires in the aid request burned a total of 655,637 acres and destroyed at least 1,604 structures.
One of the six, the 341,722-acre Creek Fire northeast of Fresno, is the largest single fire in the state’s recorded history that was not part of a complex or the result of multiple fires burning together. It is still very active and grew for another 4,067 acres Thursday, producing large quantities of smoke affecting much of central California.
The other fires in the aid request were the Slater in northwest California, Bobcat near Los Angeles, El Dorado east of Yucaipa, Valley in San Diego County, and Oak near Mendocino.
From ABC News:
Federal Emergency Management Agency press secretary Lizzie Litzow told ABC News in a statement Friday that “the damage assessments FEMA conducted with state and local partners determined that the early September fires were not of such severity and magnitude to exceed the combined capabilities of the state, affected local governments, voluntary agencies and other responding federal agencies.”
FEMA, however, did approve four fire management assistance grants in five California counties for wildfires included in the state’s disaster request, according to Litzow.
“These grants will deliver millions of dollars of assistance for emergency expenses and funds to help reduce the risks of future disasters,” she said. .
Under the Fire Management Assistance Grant Program, FEMA provides assistance in the form of grants for equipment, supplies, and personnel costs for the mitigation, management, and control of any fire on public or private forest land.
Mr. Trump has threatened numerous times to stop sending federal money to California, including during a Cabinet meeting October 17, 2018:
So I say to the Governor, or whoever is going to be the Governor of California, better get your act together cause California we’re just not going to continue to pay the kind of money that we’re paying because of fires that should never be to the extent.
There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor. Billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!
On January 9, 2019 Mr. Trump again addressed the issue in a tweet:
Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forrest (sic) fires that, with proper Forrest (sic) management, would never happen. Unless they get their act together, which is unlikely, I have ordered FEMA to send no more money. It is a disgraceful situation in lives and money!
Tweet by President Trump which was deleted Jan. 9, 2019, then reposted with correct spellings.
According to a 2015 report by the Congressional Research Service the federal government manages 46 percent of the land in California. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection manages or has fire protection responsibility for about 30 percent.
Climate change is part of the equation that has resulted in longer fire seasons, extremes of heat and cold, drought in some areas, high fire danger, and dry fuels that are very receptive to rapid fire spread.
Gas station on the Creek Fire, photo by Daniel R. Patterson, PIOHelicopters from the California National Guard mobilized for the Creek Fire. Photo by Daniel R. Patterson, PIO.
Smoke forecast for 7 p.m. MDT October 15, 2020. NOAA.
The smoke forecast for 7 p.m. MDT October 15 predicts significant issues from the Creek Fire in Central California and the Cameron Peak Fire in Colorado.
