There was no major change in the East Peak Fire over the last 24 hours. Below is a Monday evening update from the Incident Management Team:
In spite of high winds, low humidity and critical fuel conditions, growth on the East Peak Fire was minimal and containment increased to 50%. The estimated size of the fire is 13,388 acres. Due to the wind, helicopters were grounded for most of the day. Despite the challenge of high winds, firefighters made progress in mop up and patrolling the fire perimeter and engine crews ensured structure protection. Mop up and patrol will continue for the overnight shift and into tomorrow. Resources continue to arrive, totaling in 631 personnel assigned to this fire.
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(UPDATE at 8:25 a.m. MDT June 24, 2013)
Under overcast skies on Sunday there was not much change in the East Peak Fire. It was most active on the west and southeast sides and grew by a few hundred acres, bringing its total to about 12,800 acres.
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(UPDATE at 8:55 p.m. MDT, June 23, 2013)
East Peak Fire, unknown date. Photo by Don Degman
Below is an update from the Incident Management Team at about 6:30 p.m. Sunday:
Overcast conditions set up a successful burnout operation on the East Peak Fire today. “I’m very pleased with the results of the burnout today. It went really smoothly”, said Craig Beckner, Operations Section Chief. Aided by favorable winds from southeast, the burnout operation helped to reinforce control line on the southern boundary of the fire.
On the western perimeter, a very large airtanker made a retardant drop that will assist firefighters with constructing handline tomorrow in very steep terrain.
Cooler conditions and overcast skies kept the fire from gaining much acreage and is now at 12,996 acres.
Mandatory evacuations are still in effect for a large portion of the fire area. However, Huerfano County Sheriff, Bruce Newmann, started letting residents back into some closure areas.
Air Tanker 910, a DC-10, dropped 46,400 gallons of retardant on the fire today in four sorties.
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(UPDATE at 8:24 a.m. MDT, June 23, 2013)
Map of East Peak Fire, 2 a.m. MDT, June 23, 2013
The East Peak Fire in southern Colorado grew by about 1,000 acres Saturday, bringing its total to approximately 12,000 acres. It is 11 miles southwest of Walsenburg and about 9 miles west of Aguilar.
There are an estimated 300 properties within the evacuation area. An American Red Cross shelter has been established at the John Mall High School in Walsenburg, Colorado. Evacuated animals, large or small can be taken to the Fairgrounds in La Veta, Colorado.
The Incident Management Team reports that 10 “primary” structures have burned along with 4 outbuildings.
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Map of East Peak Fire, showing heat detected by a satellite at 11:05 p.m. MDT, June 21, 2013. (click to see a larger version)
(UPDATE at 5:15 p.m. MDT, June 22, 2013)
The incident management team running the East Peak Fire sent this Tweet at 3:21 p.m. Saturday:
Walsenburg remains in a PRE-evacuation status – no evacuation notices are happening at this time. #EastPeakFire
— RMIMTeamC (@TeamC_FireInfo) June 22, 2013
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(Originally published at 9:47 a.m. MDT, June 22, 2013)
The East Peak fire has burned about 11,000 acres in the southern part of Colorado 25 miles from the New Mexico border. As you can see from the map above, at 11 p.m. Friday night it was approximately 7 miles west of Aguilar and about 10 miles southwest of Walsenburg, according to the data provided by the satellite. The location of the square icons can be as much as a mile in error.
Rocky Mountain Type 2 Incident Management Team C, with Incident Commander Jay Esperance, assumed command of the Fire at 6:00 pm, Friday, June 21.
The map shows the large wildfires in Colorado that are still active and spreading, and the acres burned for each. The Papoose and West Fork fires have now been combined into the “West Fork Complex”. We have more information about the West Fork Complex and the East Peak Fire.
On the map above showing the active wildfires in Colorado, the green dots represent fires that are not being fully suppressed, while the red dots are fires that ARE being fully suppressed. The base map, with the dots, was provided by the Rocky Mountain Coordination Center; we added the fire names and acres.
Map of Doce Fire at 11 p.m. MDT, June 18, 2013. (click to enlarge)
The map of the Doce Fire above shows the perimeter (in red) at 11 p.m. MDT Tuesday night.
More information is at Facebook and the very unreliableInciWeb.
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(UPDATE at 9:15 a.m. MDT, June 19, 2013)
The Arizona Emergency Information Network (AZEIN) reports that the Doce Fire has burned 7,000 acres and is zero percent contained.
Below is evacuation information from the AZEIN. For the most current evacuation information, check their site.
Evacuated: Granite Basin Homes, Sundown Acres, Old Stage Acres, south half of Mint Creek, and American Ranch.
On notice for potential evacuation: neighborhoods in Williamson Valley
(There is an evacuation center at Yavapai College. Livestock should be taken to the Prescott Rodeo Grounds)
The AZEIN reported at 7:38 a.m. Wednesday:
The fire was active overnight on the northeast corner by the Williamson Valley Corridor and on the southwest corner by Granite Mountain Wilderness. No structures have been lost and no injuries have occurred.
All evacuations were lifted and Highway 50 reopened last night at 8 p.m. Cooler temperatures, along with higher relative humidity and light winds kept fire activity on Thursday to a minimum. The fire listed at 3,162 acres and 40 percent containment.
Predicted weather for the next several days calls for continued cooler temperatures and higher relative humidity. On Friday, fire crews will continue to construct, secure and mop up containment lines around the fire perimeter.
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(UPDATE at 5:58 p.m. MT, June 13, 2013)
Map of Royal Gorge Fire, 2:34 a.m. 6-13-2013
Below is an update from the Royal Gorge Fire’s Incident Management Team:
Yesterday the fire was active along the western flank. Fire managers felt that good progress was made along the eastern flank, and as a result the fire is now estimated to be 20 percent contained. Areas of the fire are burning in fuels that are 20 to 30 percent beetle-killed trees.
Our goal is to strengthen our containment lines and to keep this fire south of Highway 50, said Dan Dallas, Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team 2 Incident Commander.
Fire fighters will continue constructing line along the fires perimeter, and continue structure protection south of U.S. HWY 50. Approximately 136 people are on the fire with more resources scheduled to arrive throughout the day.
Below are some notes from a 4 p.m. briefing today about the privately-owned park at the Gorge:
It began with a prayer.
“The national treasure, the bridge, is intact, we drove across it today”.
48 of 52 park structures were destroyed in the fire.
All of the seasonal jobs are suspended.
They will rebuild in a year, and hope to be open on a limited basis in months
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(UPDATE at 8:50 p.m. MT, June 12, 2013)
During a press briefing that just concluded, the following information was given:
Fire behavior throughout the day was active with visible torching, spotting and running in heavy fuels.
The infrared mapping flight requested for last night did not occur, but the estimated size of the fire is 3,000 acres, with 20 percent containment.
20 structures burned in the fire. A number of buildings related to tourist activities, the bridge, and the gorge were destroyed. No homes have burned.
The bridge over the Gorge is intact, but 33 planks were damaged.
Firefighters are concerned about a Red Flag Warning in the weather forecast for Thursday, which predicts gusty winds, low humidity, and dry fuels. With that, the fire behavior Thursday may be similar to the rapid fire spread observed Tuesday.
Rocky Mountain Type 2 Incident Management Team B, with Incident Commander Dan Dallas, has arrived, been briefed, and will assume command of the fire at 6 a.m. Thursday.
Over 200 personnel are assigned to the fire.
Most of the firefighters coming off the fireline tonight, according to the Information Officer on the Type 3 IMTeam, have been working since the fire was reported on Tuesday and have not slept since then.
A larger version of the map below can be found HERE.
Map of Royal Gorge Fire, 6-12-2013
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(UPDATE at 4:27 p.m. MT, June 12, 2013)
KKTV, the Colorado Springs station that is providing excellent live stream coverage of the fires, just reported that the Royal Gorge Fire has burned 20 structures and 3,000 acres, and it is 20 percent contained.
Below is a map of the Royal Gorge Fire provided by the National Weather Service, which credits the National Interagency Fire Center for the data.
Map of Royal Gorge Fire, 6-12-2013 NWS-NIFC
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(Originally published at 8:41 a.m. MT, June 12, 2013; updated at 11:18 a.m. MT, June 12, 2013)
Strong winds pushed the Royal Gorge Fire through an estimated 3,800 acres near Canon City, southwest of Colorado Springs Tuesday. The fire started south of the Arkansas River and spotted across, burning on BLM, state, and private lands requiring mandatory evacuations in the area. Denver’s ABC7 has created a map showing the evacuation zone for the Royal Gorge Fire.
The video below was shot by KKTV chief photojournalist Mike Petkash. It was posted Tuesday morning, June 18.
An update from the El Paso County Sheriff’s office lists 502 primary residences that were destroyed in the Black Forest Fire and another 18 with partial damage.
American Red Cross Disaster Assistance Teams are doing assessments within the fire perimeter. Utility crews continue assessing and securing service to residences for future re-entry. Excess resources are being released as incident objectives are being met. Firefighters continue to mop up and secure around structures to prevent further loss.
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(UPDATE at 11:47 a.m. MT, June 17, 2013)
A tweet from KKTV in Colorado Springs:
PLEASE SHARE: Waldo Canyon Fire survivors are holding a picnic for Black Forest Fire evacuees today from noon to 2 at Woodstone Park.
That is the first time I have heard of this happening — survivors from a massive, very destructive wildfire less than a year before hold a picnic for survivors of another even more destructive wildfire that occurred just a few miles away.
Thunderstorms on Sunday brought 0.11 inches of precipitation to the Black Forest Fire area, which aided firefighters in their mop up efforts. The storm also produced lightning that ignited three new fires in the burn area which were quickly suppressed by firefighters, according to Incident Commander Rich Harvey.
The size of the fire has been more accurately determined to be 14,280 acres; on Saturday it had been listed at 15,500 acres. The cost of fire suppression is estimated at $5.5 million and 4,100 people are still under mandatory evacuation orders. The Denver Post has a map showing evacuation areas and the locations of structures that have burned.
Firefighters are placing flagging at residences, and writing on it the the date, time, and the name of the crew that checked and mopped up the area.
Incident Commander Rich Harvey told CNN on Sunday, June 16:
The perimeter work is done, now we’re focused on coming interior and making sure that all the heat that could eventually create sparks that could get over our line are done — we call it mop up.
A Monday morning news release from the IMTeam detailed some of their plans for the day:
A continuing threat exists to structures within the fire perimeter due to the potential for extreme fire behavior from gusty winds from developing thunderstorms. The potential for re-burn from remaining hot spots within the ground fuels remains a concern. Firefighters will continue to grid the fire area for hotspots, especially around structures.
A media tour scheduled for Monday morning during which members of the press were going to be transported around the fire in a bus was postponed and no new date was established. Continue reading
Firefighters conducted a burnout adjacent to an avalanche chute Friday, June 14, on the Big Meadows Fire. NPS photo
The Big Meadows Fire in Rocky Mountain National Park has grown to either 496 or 603 acres; both numbers are listed on the fire’s main InciWeb page. Some of the acreage is a result of burn outs conducted by firefighters to take advantage of natural barriers such as an avalanche chute. The Incident Commander lists the fire at 60 percent contained. Uploaded maps can be found on InciWeb.
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(UPDATE at 9:40 a.m. MT, June 14, 2013)
Fire activity Thursday was largely limited to an area on the eastern flank of the fire on south facing slopes. Hand crews constructed and strengthened fire lines along the northwest flank of the fire. Crews working along Tonahutu Creek continued efforts to install hose lays to strengthen containment along the southern flank of the fire.
Today firefighting resources will include an initial attack module of seven fire-fighters, two 20-person Type 1 hotshot crews, two 20-person Type 2 hand crews, and five fire engines.
After an infrared mapping flight, the size of the fire was determined to be 333 acres, a reduction due to more accurate information. The fire is listed at 30 percent containment.
Big Meadows Fire June 11, 2013
(UPDATE at 6 p.m. MT, June 13, 2013)
Map of Big Meadows Fire, 3:28 a.m. MT, 6-13-2013
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(UPDATE at 8:46 a.m. MT, June 13, 2013)
A shortage of wildland firefighters is impacting the suppression of the Big Meadows fire. Fire managers said there are not enough Type 1 hand crews available for them to obtain the resources they need. The 19 percent reduction in the number of federal wildland firefighters over the last two years may have contributed to this situation that makes it more difficult to put out fires.
Below is an excerpt from an update issued by fire managers:
There are 107 firefighters currently on the Big Meadows Fire plus the Type 2 team who will be taking over command of the fire from the Boise Smokejumper Type 3 team tomorrow. Air resources include one Type 1 helicopter, one Type 2 helicopter and two Type 3 helicopters. Many firefighters will be camping out near the fire tonight to get an early morning start to continue with fire suppression tactics.
A challenge continues to be filling additional Type 1 crews. Due to other fires in Colorado, as well as in other states that are impacting communities and homes, resources are being spread across the nation.
The fire managers are calling the fire 600 acres with zero containment.
The area is under a Red Flag Warning until 9 p.m. today for 10-20 mph winds gusting up to 30 mph, relative humidity as low as 14 percent, and thunderstorms with little if any rain, possibly producing more fires.
The Rocky Mountain Type 2 Incident Management Team A was scheduled to assume command of the fire at 6 a.m. today. Their Incident Command Post is the Granby High School.
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(UPDATE at 6:12 p.m. MT, June 12, 2013)
The Rocky Mountain Geographic Area reports the Big Meadow Fire has now burned 600 acres. It is making upslope runs and is spotting out ahead of the main fire.
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(UPDATE at 2:52 p.m. MT, June 12, 2013)
Map of Big Meadows Fire, 1:43 p.m. MT, 6-12-2013 (click to enlarge)
The above map contains new data on the location of the Big Meadow Fire. It shows the approximate location of heat detected by a satellite which was collected at 1:43 p.m. MT today. The locations of the squares can be as much as a mile in error. The data indicates that the fire moved a bit toward the southeast.
(Originally published at 7:52 a.m. MT, June 12, 2013; updated at 12:13 p.m. MT, June 12, 2013)
The Big Meadows Fire in Rocky Mountain National Park started from a lightning strike on Monday. Tuesday it grew from two acres to 400 by the end of the day. Wednesday around noon the Park updated the number of acres burned to 500.
The fire is about 4 miles from the Green Mountain Trailhead in a relatively remote section of Rocky Mountain National Park west of the Continental Divide. Around 1:00 p.m. Tuesday firefighters experienced extremely gusty winds that both deterred deploying smokejumpers and increased the fire’s growth. No structures or communities are threatened.
Map of Big Meadows Fire, 2:40 p.m. MT, June 11, 2013
The map of the Big Meadows Fire above shows the fire to be west of the Continental Divide and 13 miles from Estes Park. The Park posted a zoomed-in topographic map of the fire perimeter Wednesday morning.
The fire is burning in heavy timber and moving to the northeast toward Nakai Peak. No structures or communities are threatened.
A Boise Smokejumper Type 3 Incident Management Team has taken over management of the fire, with Incident Commander Matt Bowers. The Park apparently likes having smokejumpers from Boise manage their fires, as evidenced by this fire and the Fern Lake fire of 2012.
The Rocky Mountain Type 2 Incident Management Team A has been dispatched and is expected to inbrief Wednesday morning and transition Thursday morning.
Fire managers have ordered additional air and ground resources including three additional helicopters and five additional Type 1 crews. The weather forecast is for more warm, dry and windy conditions Wednesday and the fire is expected to be active.
The Park’s Tuesday morning press release said the National Park Service reluctantly decided to suppress the fire, rather than let it burn, citing extended drought conditions and reduced interagency resources, which influenced the decision, they said. Then a few hours later, it was off to the races — and it could be a long race unless there is a major change in the weather very soon.
The map below shows the location of the three large fires burning in Colorado. Continue reading
(Originally posted at 5:18 p.m. MT, June 11, 2013; revised at 8:20 a.m. MT, June 12, 2013)
There are at least three major fires burning in Colorado.
This first map shows the general locations of three fires: Big Meadow in Rocky Mountain National Park, Black Forest near Colorado Springs, and Royal Gorge at Canon City southwest of Colorado Springs. The red squares represent the approximate location of heat detected by a satellite at 2:40 p.m. June 11, 2013. Continue reading
Map of the Springs Fire near Camarillo, California in Ventura County. The red line was the perimeter at 10:30 p.m. PT, May 3, 2013. The white line is from 24 hours previously, the evening of May 2. (click to enlarge)
(UPDATE May 13, 2013)
Just to finish things up, the fire was 100 percent contained several days ago. The final size was 24,251 acres.
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(UPDATE at 7:23 a.m. PT, May 6, 2013)
It is raining in the Los Angeles area this morning. Some of the weather stations near the fire have received about a quarter of an inch since Sunday night.
The incident commander of the Springs Fire is calling the fire 28,000 acres and 80 percent contained. They expect full containment on May 7.
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(UPDATE at 6:50 a.m. PT, May 5, 2013)
Firefighters are continuing to make progress on the Springs Fire near Camarillo northwest of Los Angeles. The Incident Commander is calling it 60 percent contained and 28,000 acres. CAL FIRE reports that all evacuations have been lifted, with full containment expected on May 6.
There is minimal fire activity. The remaining firefighters continue to construct control lines, mop up, and patrol the fire perimeter. There is an increase in demobilization of firefighting resources.
Potrero Road is closed between Reino Road and Hidden Valley. Residents may return to their homes with proper identification. Residents are encouraged to access Hidden Valley from West Lake Boulevard.
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(UPDATE at 7:10 a.m. PT, May 4, 2012)
The weather that caused the Springs Fire to spread rapidly over tens of thousands of acres has moderated significantly with much higher relative humidites and lower wind speeds. By late Friday night there was much less activity on the fire than earlier in the day. At 7 a.m. Saturday morning the winds over most of the fire varied from zero to 5 mph with humidities ranging from 30 to 74 percent, a drastic change from 30+ mph and 3 percent.
During the day on Friday the fire spread east across Point Mugu State Park coming up to the edge of Hidden Valley, an area with many huge mega-mansions.
With the latest map, updated at 10:30 p.m. Friday (shown above), fire managers will probably fine tune yesterday’s estimate of 28,000 acres, most likely reducing it by several thousand. The incident commander is calling it 30 percent contained.
CAL FIRE reports that 25 outbuildings have been destroyed, and there are 15 damaged residences, 5 damaged commercial properties, and 15 damaged outbuildings. They also said the Pacific Coast Highway has “reopened but with closures at Deer Creek Road, Potrero Road, Reino Road, and Yerba Buena Road”.
The resources assigned to the fire include 1,895 personnel, 55 engines, 48 hand crews, 6 air tankers, and 11 helicopters.
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(UPDATE at 6:40 p.m. PT, May 3, 2013)
The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) is now estimating that the Springs Fire northwest of Los Angeles has burned 28,000 acres and is 20 percent contained.
At 5:15 p.m. they issued a correction of their earlier announcement. The Pacific Coast Highway has not reopened, due to possible rock slides.
CAL FIRE identified the following evacuations at 6:15 p.m. PT:
Mandatory evacuations effective immediately: South Newbury Park area, South of Potrero Road from Reino Road East to 930 West Potrero Road including Hidden Valley Road South.
Evacuations remain in effect for Potrero Road to Lewis Road, Yerea Buena Road and Deer Creek Road, Sycamore Canyon, Brrome Ranch and La Jolla Canyon.
Evacuations for the Cal State Channel Islands and Dos Vientos area have been lifted and reopened to residents only.
There has been no change in the reported number of structures damaged according to CAL FIRE: 15 damaged residences, 5 damaged commercial properties, and 15 damaged outbuildings.
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(UPDATE at 5:10 p.m. PT, May 3, 2013)
According to the Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD), the the Springs fire that started in Camarillo Springs northwest of Los Angeles, “is now being called 18,000 acres and 20% containment”.
The Pacific Coast Highway will reopen to traffic in both directions at 5:00 p.m. Many cross streets, however, will remain closed. Motorists are advised to drive carefully and watch out for emergency vehicles that may still be in the area.
For current information about evacuations, visit the VCFD web site. Additional road closures and evacuations were announced Friday afternoon.
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(UPDATE at 2:15 p.m. PT, May 3, 2013)
The Springs fire that started in Camarillo Springs northwest of Los Angeles continued to burn very actively overnight fanned by strong northeast winds. It progressed southwest all the way to the Pacific Ocean, about nine miles from the point of origin.
The map of the fire above shows the location of the fire detected by two different sources:
The red and yellow squares represent the approximate location of heat detected by a satellite hundreds of miles above the Earth at 11:50 a.m. PT, May 3, 2013.
The white line is the fire perimeter drawn by an Infrared Analyst who studied infrared data collected by a U.S. Forest Service fixed wing aircraft at 7 p.m. (PT or MT) Thursday evening, May 2. It should be much more accurate than the satellite data, but it is also about 17 hours older than the satellite information. The fire continued to spread after the fixed wing flight.
The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) reports that the fire has burned 10,000 acres with 10 percent containment, but that acreage figure is likely to increase substantially when they get a chance for more accurate mapping after sunrise. Firefighters spent the night protecting homes and cutting containment lines with hand tools and bulldozers. The air attack is scheduled to resume in the morning.
The VCFD said 2,000 homes have been threatened and 15 sustained damage, but none were destroyed.
CAL FIRE reports damage to 15 residences, 5 commercial properties, and 15 outbuildings. In addition they said 4,000 residences and 300 commercial properties are threatened.
The Red Flag Warning is still in effect until 5 p.m. on Friday, but the winds overnight at the nearby Cheeseboro weather station decreased substantially, from 25-30 mph with gusts to 45-50 mph on Thursday, to south-southeast at 8 mph with gusts to 14 mph at 1:38 p.m. PT Friday. The relative humidity remains extremely low, at 3 percent. The weather forecast for Friday calls for 18 mph winds with gusts to 25, decreasing at 11 a.m. to 10 mph with gusts to 16. The wind direction will change at 11 a.m. from northeast to southwest, a 180-degree switch, which could create problems for firefighters.
Resources on the fire include 925 personnel, 90 engines, 20 hand crews, 6 air tankers, and 8 helicopters.
DC-10 air tanker at Rapid City, April 23, 2013. Photo by Bill Gabbert
One of the DC-10 Very Large Air Tankers has been activated by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, CAL FIRE. Rick Hatton, President of 10 Tanker Air Carrier, the company that operates the two DC-10 air tankers, confirmed for us today that it will come on duty tomorrow, May 4. He said most likely the one they will use will be Tanker 910, the aircraft that visited four cities last week on the way back from scheduled maintenance in Michigan. Continue reading
