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Colorado’s wildfires continued to burn from the Western Slope to the Continental Divide as fire officials warn that more hot and dry weather during the weekend could push further fire growth.
The Front Range is seeing smoke and lower air quality from the four large fires, and meteorologists say more is on the way from California’s fires.
The Colorado National Guard was activated Friday to help in the battle against wildfires in Colorado. Gov. Jared Polis authorized the guard to assist the State Emergency Operations Center and incident commanders fighting wildfires.
Pine Gulch fire
The Pine Gulch fire grew to 125,191 acres — 195 square miles — on Friday north of Grand Junction, fire officials said Friday evening.
Drier air moving into the fire area this weekend will reduce the potential for thunderstorms, along with dangerous lightning and winds, but the weather pattern will also drive down the relative humidity into aggravating single-digit readings, fire officials said Friday on InciWeb.
Temperatures this weekend could climb into the lower 90s with winds gusting to 20 mph.
Fire activity moderated overnight Thursday, but crews expected fire growth on Friday as the weather remains hot with low humidity and dry fuels, officials said. The fire is now 19% contained.
Thursday brought gusty winds and lightning — but precious little rain, as firefighters worked to establish a containment line along Colorado 139 near Douglas Pass on the fire’s west side.
Grizzly Creek fire
The Grizzly Creek fire containment area on Friday grew to 22%, up from 11%, and the acreage scorched by the fire burning near Glenwood Springs is 29,992, almost 46 square miles, according to fire officials.
Fire crews have been concentrating on containment line efforts in the No Name drainage, said Jeff Surber, operations section chief.
“Fire will not escape” the fortified line, Surber said in a Friday afternoon briefing.
Thunderstorms on Thursday brought rain to the east side of the fire near Bair Ranch, slowing the fire’s growth, officials said. Firefighters spent Thursday building direct and indirect fire lines and strengthened existing containment lines around the fire.
Crews continued structure protection in Bair Ranch, which has been a focus for several days. Crews feed tree limbs and long downed branches into wood chippers to mitigate potential fire fuels.
Blue Ridge Hot Shots carried out burn operations, torching potential fire fuels ahead of the fire, in the Ike Creek and Bair Ranch areas.
Cateron Peak fire
The Cameron Peak fire grew in the area south of Colorado 14 on Friday afternoon, prompting evacuations for residents in the area of Crown Point, Pingree Park Road and up to Pennock Pass on Larimer County Road 44H, the sheriff’s office said in an emergency alert.
The area under evacuation order, which can be found on Larimer County’s website, is sparsely populated, David Moore, a sheriff’s office spokesman, said. Evacuation alerts went out to 162 contacts, he said, but that could include five people in the same home. Moore did not know the exact population of the area but said there aren’t 162 homes in the new evacuation zone.
Williats Fork fire
The Williams Fork fire grew by 831 acres overnight Thursday and is now burning 10,288 acres — 16 square miles — outside Fraser, officials said Friday.
Rain fell in the fire zone overnight on Thursday, about three-tenths of an inch over Williams Fork and another tenth of an inch elsewhere, slowing the fire Friday.
Mike Johnston, deputy operations chief, estimated the fire grew less than 100 acres during the day Friday as winds remained blowing out of the north.
“We had the opportunity to make good progress out there today,” Johnston said. Firefighters continued work on containment lines and structure protection Friday.