West
Fork Complex Fire Update
Eastern Great Basin Incident
Management Team 1 – Beth Lund, Incident Commander
Central Coast Interagency
Incident Management Team 7 – Mark Nunez, Incident Commander
East Zone Phone: 719-569-4149
West Zone Phone: 970-731-2745
Hours of operation: 8:00 a.m.
– 9:00 p.m.
East Zone Email: WestForkFire.EastZone@gmail.com
West Zone Email: westforkfire@gmail.com
July 9, 2013
9:00 a.m.
Special Messages: A community meeting will be held in Creede, Colorado this
Wednesday evening from 6-7 p.m. to give a fire update and address any questions
from citizens. It will be at the Creede High School, located at 308 La Garita
Street (map: http://goo.gl/maps/Dagip).
With monsoon rains expected soon, there may be an increased risk of flash
flooding, debris flows and other impacts within and downstream of the burned
areas. Residents and visitors are urged to stay aware of their surroundings
during rain events and do not drive or walk through areas that have flooded.
Current Situation
Weather (East Zone):
Today is expected to be drier than the previous few days, with relative humidity
in the 20-30% range, and a chance of scattered dry afternoon thunderstorms.
Wind is expected to be 9-15 mph from the west/northwest, with gusts to 20 mph.
East Zone of the West
Fork Complex (Includes Papoose Fire and Eastern Part of West Fork Fires)
Papoose
Fire: As weather conditions become drier
and warmer, fire is likely to become more active. Steep and inaccessible
terrain and beetle-killed timber make it unsafe for firefighters to use direct
attack tactics on the fire. Falling
snags are an additional safety hazard.
Helicopter water drops continue to assist ground forces in cooling off
hot spots and slowing fire growth on the northwest side and on the southeast
flank. The remainder of the northeast
side is in patrol and monitoring status, with structure protection in place
where appropriate.
Eastern Part of West Fork
Fire: There is minimal activity on this portion of
the complex. A small spot fire was found
yesterday, and was contained at ¼ acre with the use of water drops from a
helicopter.
West Zone of West Fork
Complex (Includes Western Part of West Fork and Windy Pass Fires)
Firefighters will be diligent maintaining the safety practices in these changing weather conditions. Main objectives today will be continuing to patrol and monitor for fire activity and readiness for any new attacks. Weather permitting, aerial monitoring will continue.
Weather (West
Zone):
A stagnant and strong high-pressure system over the area is continuing to
make slow westerly movement over this region.
Local Red Flag Warning is issued for the West Fork Fire Complex – West
Zone, due to extremely dry air, dry fuels and poor maximum relative humidity
recovery. The warning is valid from 1:00
p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
West Zone West
Fork Fire: 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: Eastern side of the fire continues to hold some heat. Monitoring by air will continue today as well
as Firefighters continue to patrol and monitor the fire area.
Williams Creek
Contingency Group: Firefighters will continue structure protection,
patrol and monitor for new starts.
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
Colorado Smoke Outlook, visit http://www.colorado.gov/airquality/colo_advisory.aspx
or http://www.colorado.gov/airquality/wildfire.aspx
for more information.
Evacuations and Closures:
On
Monday, July 8, several additional communities were removed from Mandatory
Evacuation areas. Spar City remains in a
Pre-Evacuation Status. Wirtz Property,
Rio Grande Reservoir (Forest Road 520), S Lazy U/Wilderness Ranch, Hermit Lakes
all remain under a Mandatory Evacuation.
For
the most current list of Evacuations and Pre-Evacuations, visit:
http://westforkfirecomplex.blogspot.com
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 Statistics:
Location: 14.5 miles north/northeast of Pagosa Springs, CO Start
Date: 06/05/2013
Complex Size: 109,049 acres Percent Contained: 19%
Windy
Pass: 1,417 acres Cause: Lightning
Papoose: 49,056 acres Total Personnel: 727
West Fork: 58,576 acres
Resources Include: 3 Type-1 hand crews, 6 Type-2 hand
crews, 32 engines, 2 dozers, 12 water tenders, and overhead personnel
Air Resources: 4 Type-1 helicopters,
2 Type-2 helicopters, and 4 Type 3-helicopters.
For
more information:
Twitter:
@RioGrandeUSFS | Photos: http://s1286.photobucket.com/user/WestForkComplex/library/
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