Some fires cooled by the snowstorm

Thanks to the snow that hit the Front Range over the weekend, both the Cameron Peak Fire and East Troublesome Fire didn’t grow Monday and had little fire activity.

However, the snow also made it difficult for firefighters to get to the fire to fight it, according to an update from fire managers Monday evening.

Also Monday, the Red Cross released statistics for the number of people it has helped during the Cameron Peak Fire, East Troublesome Fire and Mullen Fire.

According to a statement, the agency is helping to house more than 2,600 people in over 1,600 rooms in 34 hotels, as well as people in two KOA campgrounds. Between these, nearly 28,000 overnight stays have been provided for wildfire refugees.

With other community partners, the Red Cross has also served more than 25,000 meals to those evacuated.

Cameron Peak Fire

The Cameron Peak Fire had another day of no growth, staying at 208,663 acres and 64% containment. The East Troublesome Fire Thompson Zone fire on the east side of Rocky Mountain National Park also had no growth Monday, despite activity over the weekend, staying at 4,346 acres and 0% containment.

Incident meteorologist Dan Byrd said Monday that while the fire area received a great deal of snow, warmer weather is expected to start melting the snow later in the week.

Glen Lewis, fire behavior analyst, said until the snow melts, fire is not expected to be very active.

“For now, and for an extended period here before it warms up, we really anticipate very little fire movement,” Lewis said.

Operations section chief Joe Sean Kennedy said while the fire was tame because of the snow and cold weather and firefighters were able to hold fire lines, over the weekend the Thompson Zone did see some activity and pushed closer toward Estes Park. He said crews were able to work on defensive lines in the area to try to stop the fire from spreading any further.

Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith said his teams are continuing work to get people into burn areas to let them winterize their property or see what damage their properties suffered. Sheriff’s Office crews also able to downgrade some evacuation orders.

The Sheriff’s Office downgraded the east side of County Road 27 from Masonville to the Stove Prairie School from mandatory evacuation to voluntary Monday.

Smith said he has heard from some residents that they have been unable to get to their homes and learned about their damage or destruction from neighbors. Smith apologized for this and said he understands the frustration.

“We are all tired, we are frustrated, it is pushing 80 days here soon,” Smith said. “Folks have been very patient, but we understand your concern.”

Canyon Lakes district ranger Katie Donahue said during the evacuations and closures, rangers have seen people entering closed forest areas. She said people must check ahead of time for what areas are closed.

“It is super critical you guys look at that,” Donahue said. “We don’t want anyone to get cited, and we really don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

Fire team public information officer David Boyd passed along a statement from the town government of Estes Park that recreational visits to the town are prohibited.

Incident commander Dan Dallas introduced Rob Allen, incident commander for the Pacific Northwest Area Team 2, who will be taking over the fire management Tuesday morning.

East Troublesome Fire

Much like the Cameron Peak Fire, the East Troublesome Fire had no growth Monday because of the snow and cold. The fire has burned 192,560 acres and stands at 15% containment.

Incident commander Noel Livingston said the snow, while halting the fire, also halted the work of firefighters because crews were unable to access tougher areas.

“It was a day of rest for the firefighters, for the most part,” Livingston said.

Brett Schroetlin, Grand County sheriff, said that while U.S. 34 into Grand Lake has reopened, people have been violating roadblocks to get into damaged areas to take pictures of houses and tell property owners who have lost structures before the Sheriff’s Office is able to.

“These people are victims, they are in these neighborhoods, they deserve the right to have the contact and the appropriate notification process,” Schroetlin said. “This is hampering our process; it is slowing us down.”