Special Message: Several fire information meetings will be held over the next several days. Del Norte: Daily briefing at the Red Cross Shelter in Del Norte at 9 am Lake City: Wednesday, June 26 at 2:00 pm at the Armory Pagosa Springs: Saturday June 29, 2013 at 1:00 pm at the Community Center Current Situation: East Zone of the West Fork Complex (Includes Papoose and Eastern Part of West Fork Fires) A night shift has been established for this zone which includes the Papoose Fire and the portion of the West Fork Fire that is north of the Continental Divide. Several engines will monitor the fire overnight and provide structure protection where necessary. Papoose Fire: Fire activity was primarily on the northwest flank near Crooked Creek and Longs Canyon. Several retardant drops were made in this area to help reduce the fire activity, and extra resources have been ordered to assist the firefighters working in this area. The fire has not crossed Squaw Creek on the southwest side. Along the north and northwest flanks, firefighters continued to provide structure protection and evaluation of structures further north on Highway 149. Eastern Part of West Fork Fire: Fire activity was primarily on the north flank near Lake Humphreys and on the northeast flank. Firefighters continued to do mitigation work and provide structure protection along Highway 149 and near Lake Humphreys and Metroz Lake. East of Highway 149, firefighters began mitigation work and evaluation of structures. On the south flank, along Highway 160, aerial resources were used to keep the fire north of the highway. West Zone of West Fork Complex (Includes Western Part of West Fork and Windy Pass Fires) Today we saw the effects of the combination more favorable weather and of the active portions of the two fires in the west zone moving out of the heavy stands of beetle killed trees and into less volatile vegetation. Western Part of West Fork Fire: The West Zone of the West Fork fire is the portion of the fire burning south of the continental divide. Today there was spotty fire activity on the south flank of the fire above Borns Lake to the east and some active areas on the west flank of the fire. Firefighters completed installing and testing a sprinkler system to protect Bruce Spruce Resort and other structures along West Fork Road today. Parts of the sprinkler system at Borns Lake were run today to increase humidity and fuel moisture around structures at Borns Lake. Windy Pass Fire: Activity on the Windy Pass Fire today was primarily burning in pockets of isolated beetle killed trees. Even with the heavier than expected winds today there was very little fire movement. Crews will continue to work on contingency lines protecting the Wolf Creek Ski Area and monitor the contingency line on the south end along East Fork Road. Weather: Today wind gusts up to 40 mph were reported on the ridgetops. As the high pressure continues to build, wind direction is expected to shift to the northwest tomorrow. The inversion may stay a bit longer which means smoke will stay in the valleys longer tomorrow. Evacuations and Closures: No additional closures or evacuations have been issued. The road block at Creede was moved back to Wagon Wheel Gap yesterday. Local traffic from Creede is being escorted between Wagon Wheel Gap and Highway 160. This is for residents of Creede and those areas not evacuated along Highway 149 near the Papoose Fire. Highway 160 from the chain-up area to South Fork remains closed. Visit cotrip.org/roadConditions.htm for more information. For additional information on road and trail closures affecting the San Juan National Forest go to: fs.usda.gov/alerts/sanjuan/alerts-notices. For additional information on road and trail closures affecting the Rio Grande National Forest go to: West Fork Fire Closures.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 05:23:56 +0000
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