San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
WINDS FAN COLORADO’S LARGEST RECORDED FIRE
New fire sparks as winds keep some aircraft grounded
The largest wildfire in Colorado history grew Saturday as high winds pushed the blaze through rural communities and the forecast predicted more “extreme fire behavior.”
Gusts of up to 70 mph overnight created “very significant” fire activity, especially along the southeast section, said Cass Cairns, a spokeswoman for the Cameron Peak fire efforts.
“The plan today is to try to hold the fire to the east,” Paul Delmerico, operations chief for the Cameron Peak fire said early Saturday. “We’re facing the same critical fire conditions today as we did yesterday.”
The fire grew to 293 square miles by Saturday morning and was 57 percent contained.
Boulder County fire officials reported a new fire had sparked west of Boulder on Saturday afternoon. The Boulder Office of Emergency Management said on Twitter that Jamestown was being evacuated and Highway 7 was closed between the Peak-to-peak Highway and the town of Lyons.
The new fire was near the Cal-wood Education Center, which is about 17 miles from downtown Boulder. The Boulder County Sheriff ’s Office said the Hall Ranch and Heil Valley trails were being evacuated because of the Calwood fire.
Cameron Peak fire officials said fire activity had increased Saturday afternoon and a spot fire was growing east of the main fire and was moving toward Masonville.
People along U.S. 34, the highway leading to Rocky Mountain National Park, were evacuated on Friday but Delmerico said the town of Estes Park may be spared.
“The way the fire’s moving and the lay of the land, the terrain, the features, the ridge lines, we know that Estes Park is not out of the woods but we feel that as the fire progresses and moves to the southeast, the way it’s moving we do feel that the community of Estes Park is not imminently threatened or in the direct line of fire.“
A wind shift could change that, he said, but that was unexpected.
Firefighters focused on protecting homes in and around Drake and Glen Haven, an area with hundreds of cabins perched on heavily forested slopes and ridges. The wind, however, kept not only slurry-dumping airplanes from flying but aircraft that gave firefighters a view of the deteriorating situation from on high.
The blaze set Colorado’s size record after strong winds Tuesday night and Wednesday morning caused it to grow by more than 40 square miles. The fire sent thick smoke into Fort Collins and prompted evacuations all the way to Horsetooth Reservoir on the city’s western edge.
It started in mid-august in the high country 30 miles west of Fort Collins and has persisted despite getting more than a 1 foot of snow on Labor Day. It was more than 50 percent contained before this past week’s flare-ups.