Cameron Peak Fire sees no growth
Fire acreage and containment unchanged since the weekend snow
The acreage and containment numbers for the Cameron Peak Fire and East Troublesome Thompson Zone spot fire stayed the same Wednesday, with Cameron Peak at 208,663 acres and 64% containment and the Thompson zone at 4,346 acres and 0% containment.
According to the morning update from the Pacific Northwest Type 1 Incident Management Team, fire personnel were able to get into the area near the northeast perimeter of the Thompson Zone to assess the area for potential direct and indirect suppression efforts.
The update added that roads are star ting to clear but the snow melt has made roads soft so vehicle travel will be limited until they dr y out more. Hazardous road conditions still exist and many areas remain inaccessible, the update added.
Firefighters spent the day Wednesday much like they have through the week; continuing to scout road conditions to determine access to the fire. Once temperatures rise, roads clear and frozen portable water tanks and
hoses thaw, crews are expected to resume “mopping up hotspots, constr ucting direct and indirect firelines and assessing the need for structure protection in communities and outlying areas.”
Air support will also continue to provide aerial reconnaissance over the fire area to monitor for temperature and any fire activity on the ground.
In a post on Facebook, Larimer County Sherif f Justin Smith said he was “elated” to downgrade or eliminate several more evacuation areas from both the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires.
The Pingree Park area, Monument Gulch, Paradise
Park and Moody Hill areas off of County Road 44H west of County Road 27 and the west side of the Estes Valley were all moved from mandatory to voluntary evacuation status throughout the day.
Along with these changes, the Sheriff’s Office also lifted many voluntar y evacuations. These lifted areas include: Colo. 7 to Allenspark, Colo. 7 east to Panorama Peak, the Estes Valley east of the Marys Lake Road corridor, east of the Elm Road corridor and east of the Fall River corridor, U.S. 34 from Mall Road to the Dam Store, County Road 31D from Sylvan Dale to Ellis Ranch, the Crosier Mountain area nor th of U.S. 34, and County Road 43 west of Glen Haven to Estes Park.
Also in his post, Smith mentioned discussions with U.S. Forest Ser vice personnel about fuel moisture in fire areas. According to his post, during the High Park Fire moisture in heavy fuels was around 12%, or roughly the equivalent of kiln-dried lumber. Current readings around the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests are in the 6% to 8% range, which is not expected to change in the near future.
Smith added that while at the Pingree Park campus Wednesday, he saw fire actively burning to the south and west of the campus. Crews remain staffed in the area to protect homes and are working to dig the hoses and pumps out of the snow.
“I can personally attest, this fire is burning in 15 inches of snow,” Smith wrote. “That fire does not show up on the satellite heat maps, but it is most cer tainly there.”
He added he believes there is still active fire waiting to come out between Poudre Springs and Glen Haven as well as The Retreat.
Smith finished his post by saying all of these facts “only serve to reinforce the long term threat of the fire still sitting near the Continental Divide in RMNP.”
“We don’t believe that Estes is in imminent danger in the near future, but we also don’t believe that the threat is gone,” Smith wrote. “I’m pleased with where we are at, but I know crews have a lot of work still ahead of them.”
Due to technical difficulties in its Wednesday night update, the Pacific Northwest Type 1 Incident Management Team has scheduled a live Cameron Peak Fire update at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.