West
Fork Complex Fire Update
Rocky Mountain Incident
Management Team- Pete Blume, Incident Commander
Central Coast Interagency
Incident Management Team 7 – Mark Nunez, Incident Commander
East Zone Phone: 719-569-4149
West Zone Phone: 970-731-2432
Hours of operation: 8:00 am –
9:00 pm
East Zone Email: WestForkFire.EastZone@gmail.com
West Zone Email: westforkfire@gmail.com
July 5, 2013
9:00 am
Special Messages: A transfer of command will take place
from Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team (Blume) – Type 1 – to another Type
1 Incident Management Team, Eastern Great Basin (Lund) at 6:00 a.m. tomorrow
morning.
Current Situation:
East Zone of the West
Fork Complex (Includes Papoose and Eastern Part of West Fork Fires)
The strategies for operations on the fire include continuing protection
for structures and high value resources, as well as confining the fire to areas
where it will not pose a threat to local communities during the remainder of
the summer.
Papoose Fire: Yesterday, fire
activity was minimal, with single trees burning and deep needle litter (duff)
continuing to burn. Over the last few
days, Papoose has not seen the moisture that West Fork has. This has caused continued drying of
vegetation. With increased wind in the
afternoons, the potential for fire spreading and spotting is high daily. Firefighters continue mop up around
structures and chipping vegetation that will cause any increased fire hazard. Helicopters will aid firefighters in keeping
any hot areas of the fire from spreading. The fire continues to be active in the
northwest, near the Reservoir, and along Highway 149. Burn out operations along some of the meadows
near Highway 149 is planned again today which will allow firefighters the
opportunity to even out the fire line and achieve confinement.
Eastern Part of West Fork
Fire: Firefighters
will continue chipping operations around homes where limbs and brush were
cleared so fire hazard is reduced. Firefighters
will continue fireline construction through the Elk Mountain area and monitor
areas along Highway 160 where fire remains active.
West Zone of West Fork
Complex (Includes Western Part of West Fork and Windy Pass Fires)
Minimal fire growth occurred on the fire last night. Firefighters will continue to patrol and
monitor the fire and are poised to respond to any new fire starts that may have
occurred during the past few days. The fires will continue to be monitored by
air.
West Zone West Fork Fire: There was very
little activity last evening. The West
Zone of the West Fork fire
is the portion of the fire burning south of the continental divide. Structure
protection is still in place for the Wolf Creek Ski Area, Borns Lake Cabins,
and Bruce Spruce Resort. The West Fork
Campground is open.
Windy Pass Fire: Monitoring by air will continue today as well as Firefighters
continue to patrol and monitor the fire area.
Weather: Moisture will continue to increase
Friday and into the weekend. This will
set the stage for scattered showers and thunderstorms. An increase of widespread precipitation will
be Sunday. Temperatures will be in the
mid 70’s with winds from the West to Northwest. Minimal moisture was observed
on the fire last evening.
Public
Health and Safety: Smoke
monitors are in place in Pagosa Springs, Freemon’s Ranch, Creede, and South
Fork. The monitors are identified as #78
(Creede), #69 (Freemon’s Ranch), #25 (South Fork), and #65 (Pagosa
Springs). All monitors can be accessed
through the map located at: http://www.wrcc.dri.edu/cgi-bin/smoke.pl.
Times displayed are in GMT – subtract 6 hours to get local time (MDT). For the official Colorado Smoke Outlook,
please visit http://www.colorado.gov/airquality/colo_advisory.aspx
and http://www.colorado.gov/airquality/wildfire.aspx
for further health advisory information.
Please use caution when traveling along Highways 149
and 160. Heavy fire traffic can be
expected along the highways and within the communities of South Fork, Creede,
and Del Norte. In addition, heavy
holiday traffic is expected in the same area, and including Pagosa Springs. Please do not stop along the roads to take
pictures of the fire or firefighters as doing so could impede fire operations.
Evacuations and Closures: Some communities still remain under
evacuation, others on pre-evacuation notice.
Residents are reminded to remain vigilant and be prepared to evacuate at
a moment’s notice in the event that fire activity changes. Visit http://westforkfirecomplex.blogspot.com/
for a list of areas currently under evacuation or pre-evacuation. The list will be updated as conditions
change.
For additional information on
road and trail closures and fire restrictions affecting the San Juan National
Forest go to: http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/sanjuan/alerts-notices.
For additional information on
road and trail closures and fire restrictions affecting the Rio Grande National
Forest go to: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/riogrande/.
Fire Information Meetings: None scheduled at this
time.
Media Briefings: There are no scheduled media briefings.
Fire Statistics:
Location: 14.5 miles north/northeast of Pagosa Springs, CO Start
Date: 06/05/2013
Complex Size: 110,028 acres Percent Contained: 20%
Windy
Pass: 1,417 acres Cause: Lightning
Papoose: 48,652 acres Total Personnel: 1,169
West Fork: 59,959 acres
Resources Include: 7 Type 1 hand crews, 11 Type 2 hand crews, 56 engines, 2 dozers, 17 water
tenders, and overhead personnel
Air Resources: 6 Type 1 helicopters,
1 Type 2 helicopters, and 5 Type 3 helicopters.
Places
to get information:
Twitter:
@rmt1pio
Information Boards: Information is posted at the
Pagosa Springs Visitor Information Center, Freemon's Ranch near Creede, the
Forest Service office in Creede, and at the Del Norte High School.
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