Summit County Citizens Voice

Hot spots north of Poudre Canyon a concern

An updated map of the High Park Fire created by Summit Voice contributor Mark Newby. Click on the map to visit Newby’s website, http://www.blackicegeospatial.com.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — High Park Fire incident commander Bill Hahnenberg said crews have managed managed to establish containment lines on about 5 percent of the fire’s 40-mile perimeter, and hope to reach 10 percent containment by the end of the day.

He cautioned that if the fire becomes especially active, those containment figures could change. Crews could gain ground in some areas, but lose control other places, depending in large part on winds, he explained.

So far, the operational cost of the fire stands at about $1.6 million, with about 30 percent of the fire impacting national forest lands, and 70 percent affecting private lands.

Hahnenberg took charge of the firefighting efforts as leader of a Type 1 Incident Management team assembled to fight the most complex wildfires. As commander, he works directly for the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office and the Arapahoe-Roosevelt National Forest supervisor.

“This is a very high priority fire, and we’re not having any problems getting the resources we need,” Hahnenberg said, explaining that there could be as many as 700 to 800 firefighters on scene by Wednesday.

Regular updates are posted at the Larimer Sheriff website.

Real-time updates from the Larimer Sheriff’s Office are streaming on Twitter at @LarimerSheriff.

Information from other nonofficial sources, including media outlets, residents and others is streaming on Twitter at the #HighParkFire hashtag.

Links to other information resources, including evacuations and air quality are at 
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/2904/
.

The northeastern and southeastern sections of the fire are still hot and burning actively, and firefighters are especially concerned with hot spots north of Poudre Canyon, where pre-evacuation notices have been issued.

He said the eastern flank of the fire has petered out where it encountered finer fuels, including grasslands and agricultural meadows.

“Local fire departments have done a great job of handling the fire in that area,” he said.

By contrast, the west flank of the fire is burning in rugged terrain on national forest lands, and given the low moisture content of the fuel (60 percent, as opposed to the normal 90 percent for this time of year) it will take a long time to contain that part of the fire.

“It’ll be with us for quite a while,” he said, adding the fire could continue to burn until the summer monsoon season or potentially even to autumn.

The south flank is also still a concern because of heavy fuels and numerous homes in the area.

Larimer County Sheriff’s Department executive officer Nick Christensen said officials are looking at lifting some of the previously issued evacuation orders, which would potentially allow some residents to return home, but no decisions have been made yet.

Filed under: climate and weather, Colorado, Drought, forest fires Tagged: | Colorado wildfires, High Park Fire, High Park Fire containment, High Park fire map, High Park fire map June 12, High Park fire size, Larimer County Colorado, Larimer County wildfire