N. Colorado Forest Fire!
Elk
Lots of guys here hunt in this area. Big Cr Lakes/Twisty Park
Looks like it will head into Wyoming soon
"NOTE: As of 5 p.m., due to extreme fire behavior and heavy smoke/high winds, evacuations are now mandatory for area private and recreation residences, as well as all fire personnel in the fire area! More info will be posted as it becomes available."
Ugh. I'm due east and there's a pretty big smoke plume. With the hot wind today and all that beetle kill there it has a scary potential.
Prayer for some rain from MO.
You people are in my prayers. God Bless
Pray for rain and calm winds that will be a tough fire to fight...
We can smell the smoke from this fire in Ft Collins CO, 160 miles to the east of the fire.
98 degrees here and in the 90s for the next week or so. It is going to be a bad fire season.
Paul
I know it sucks but it was a matter of time! There is so much nettle kill in this state and they still are not allowing logging like they should! As a result just a bunch of match sticks standing on end! Hope we get some weather soon but extended looks to be hot and dry!
We were camping east of there when it went up on Sunday. My wife noticed it first. "Isn't that where (so-and-so) hunts?"
"Yep."
We've been on fire for the last couple of months. 16 wildfires so far. My back packing bear area is gone. I sure hope they can get those fires under control and keep them away form any dwellings. They've done a great job here.Those Hot Shot crews on the ground and in this heat are some tough dudes.
Inciweb - Arizona Incidents Sunset Fire (Wildfire) Tue, 21 Jun 2016 21:20:42 -05:00 Cedar Fire (Wildfire) Tue, 21 Jun 2016 20:35:52 -05:00 Brown Fire (Wildfire) Tue, 21 Jun 2016 18:27:05 -05:00 Sun Valley Fire (Wildfire) Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:53:46 -05:00 Wildcat Fire (Wildfire) Tue, 21 Jun 2016 17:14:21 -05:00 Bert Wildfire (Wildfire) Tue, 21 Jun 2016 14:39:01 -05:00 Jack Fire (Wildfire) Mon, 20 Jun 2016 13:42:45 -05:00 Juniper Fire (Wildfire) Sun, 19 Jun 2016 19:40:06 -05:00 Tenderfoot Fire (Wildfire) Sun, 19 Jun 2016 15:24:27 -05:00 Balke Fire (Wildfire) Mon, 13 Jun 2016 12:23:14 -05:00 Shoshone Rx (Prescribed Fire) Fri, 10 Jun 2016 15:16:20 -05:00 Mule Ridge Fire (Wildfire) Mon, 06 Jun 2016 19:03:07 -05:00 Whitetail Canyon Fire (Wildfire) Thu, 02 Jun 2016 19:17:16 -05:00 Jhus Canyon Fire (Wildfire) Thu, 02 Jun 2016 19:15:11 -05:00 Portal Peak Fire (Wildfire) Thu, 02 Jun 2016 19:12:52 -05:00 La Sierra Fire (Wildfire) Wed, 01 Jun 2016 15:17:58 -05:00
An engine from our department got dispatched to it. I'm enroute to it right now. Lots of beetle kill for it to consume
As stated above this was overdue and quite honestly needed. Certainly not any human or homes lost and I hope they can contain it. So please don't roast me for saying it wasn't needed but those forests have been highly mismanaged and need a restart. Prayers to those in the path!
We could really smell it last night in Cheyenne....had a little smoke too
My neighbor Quentin Smith- last night had a fire in their hay stack- after the Meeker Fire District being on it several hours, they finally left and it is still smoldering a lot this morning yet.
It was 98 degrees here the last 2 days
Ermine stay safe and have fun sir!
Good luck Justin. Please stay safe!
As we learned studying forest ecology, Mother Nature will take care of the forests. Beetles take out the older trees but spare the young ones. Fire clears the overstory and rejuvenates the soil. Wildlife benefits from all of this. But "nature" never counted on millions of people - like me, for instance - living in areas intended to burn on a regular basis.
Lou, you better move back to town where it is "safe".
Ermine: be safe
Paul
The area is bad with beetle kill but its still a sad thing when this happens.
I was hunting only a few miles away from there last year. If it gets into the Wilderness area they are gonna have a helluva time getting it contained.
Old Beetle kill is not any more dangerous or conducive to fire than live trees. It's the 'red' stage of beetle kill that really increases fire danger. The old beetle kill stands are actually less conducive to crown fire than live trees.
That said, it's very dry around there and with forecast it looks like rough going ahead. Stay safe! Nothing out there is worth human lives.
Justin, same here son, take care of yourself out there!
ElkNut1
Hunted behind the lakes there in 2011. Definitely right about the beetle kill. I would think a fire would be a benefit to the area. I know it was a pain hunting in some areas with all the dead blowdowns. Hopefully a fire will eventually green it back up.
7000 acres now. A wind/rain storm just went through.
One way or another -- it's amazing to see the natural world at work.
My wife's family were givin the go ahead to go in and get there cattle off independence yesterday they took some pretty amazing pictures.
Not good news...
see link
Heavy rain in Steamboat last night for an hour. Hopefully it made a difference over the divide.
Ermine, you out there? OK?
What's the latest on the fire?
Mark
The fire is doing what needs to be done. Very hard to control because of the beetle kill. Can't get guys in to the timber because of the potential for obvious snags. So right not just protecting structures and letting the fire consume the beetle killed timber. Estimated containment is August.
Good Lord... August? Thats a long ways out yet. Keep safe Ermine and keep us posted!
Uh oh.... see link for map of burn area
"(WALDEN, Colo.) June 28, 2016 – Consecutive days of low humidity and north by northwest winds greatly increased fire growth on the Beaver Creek Fire yesterday afternoon and through the night. Group torching and crowning continued into the early morning hours, a period when fires usually burn with less intensity. The fire grew to 9114 acres with the fire edge expanding on the south and west. The north and east edge of the fire did not significantly grow yesterday. Firefighters protected structures overnight, mopping up hot spots left behind after the fire passed. The fire continues to move through heavy dead timber burning with high intensity. As the inversion moves out this morning fire activity will increase. Operations Section Trainee Chief Aaron Thompson briefed firefighters, “the fire is going to stand up and move. There is a lot of new fire edge but the mission remains the same, defend structures and build contingency line. Keep your heads up and keep safety a top priority.” The fire located south of the Wyoming border and 15 miles northwest of Walden, Colorado and has spread onto wilderness lands. Air attack began watching the fire this morning and ground crews will have helicopters available to them for cooling spot fires and hot spots. Structure protection engines will again prepare by setting up sprinkler systems, removing fuel and defending structures threatened by the fire. Dozers are working to build and improve on contingency fire lines. Last night firefighters assisted with a civilian injury near a contingency fireline. Firefighters were able to use their “incident within an incident” protocol to assist with transporting the citizen to a hospital utilizing medical staff and equipment to communicate effectively with non-fire personnel. All residential structures within and near the fire perimeter have been saved to date. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office will provide information to residence and cabin owners in the evacuation/closure area. To obtain a picture of their property, affected owners can call (970)723-4242 to make a formal request with the Sheriff. Existing evacuation orders remain in place due to the hazardous conditions near the fire perimeter. Closures remain in place and specific information can be found at http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4797/. The cause of the Beaver Creek Fire remains under investigation. Anyone with information on suspicious activity should contact U.S. Forest Service Officer Hannah Nadeau, 307-343-2335. Official information on the fire is being disseminated via Inciweb: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4797/.
We could see that plume of smoke from northeast Wyoming over the weekend, of course there was a fire up there too...it is summer after all...
Quite a ways north of my place but scary for sure. Hoping everyone stays safe!
13,000+ acres now. Looks like it is spreading south and east
Absolute devastation out there.
All involved, stay safe.
Killed some elk there where it has burned.... wont be going there for awhile
This fire activity has now closed NF access roads across the state line in Wyoming
If you hunt in that area, be prepared to have a Plan B
Why do you think it killed elk?
This was a very slow moving fire because everythjng this green.
Been seeing plenty of deer, elk, and antelope near the fire. Animals are smart and know when to get out of an area. The only time I've seen animals killed was in very fast moving grass fires.
I meant 'I have killed elk there', where the fire is, back in the 90's
Ermine ... what's the outlook for the early part of September out there? I thought I'd heard that the fire was expected to be "on" until at least August, and so I'm wondering what access is going to look like in that region come Labor Day.
Is it still projected to reach Wyoming or is it spreading south?
I was in Saratoga over the weekend and we had a couple rains and a big hail storm. Was hoping some hit the fire but looks like its still cooking.
Forecasters say it was 5% contained and rain and cooler temps helped.....but that is about to change going forward. Fire is expected to jump back up. Not good for those in the area or who hunt there.
IncidWeb projects mid Oct before fire is out.
Fire is predicted to be contained mid October. Right now not much going on. Rain everyday really calmed it down. Most people are leaving or gone and a smaller team type 3 team is taking over to monitor it. Tomorrow I head home!
Thanks for what you do! I'm glad you and everyone is safe!
2pm Friday July 8
I'm just south of Walden. Here is a pic looking NW.
It's 80 degrees with a 20mph west wind. It's gonna get bigger.
Thanks for what you do Ermine....can be in very dangerous situations within moments!
Pray for rain...
Mark
Cnelk.. I missed you by a few hours.. Took the same picture around 6pm.
Almost up to 25K acres now. If you hunt anywhere near this area, keep up to date on the closure map. It's been changing.
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/4797/ ---for general info
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/photos/CORTF/2016-06-20-1126-Beaver-Creek-Fire/picts/2016_07_18-08.45.52.431-CDT.jpeg ----latest closure map
It burned 1913 acres just in the last day. That's 3 square miles burned in just 1 day. And a huge area of NF and wilderness area is closed with projected control date in mid to late October. Going to be a lot of bowhunters looking for a new OTC area to hunt this year.
