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
Special Messages: A community meeting will be held tonight, July 10, in Creede, Colorado from 6-7 p.m. Members of the incident management team and local officials will give a fire update and address local concerns from citizens. The meeting is at the Creede High School, located at 308 La Garita Street (map: http://Google/CreedeHighSchool).
On July 11, at 8 p.m., the Eastern Great Basin team will assume command of the entire complex as the Central Coast team completes their assigned time on the fires.
Current Situation: East Zone of the West Fork Complex (Includes Papoose Fire and Eastern Part of West Fork Fires)
Weather (East Zone): The relative humidity will be slightly increased today. There will be a chance for isolated thunderstorms in the afternoon. Winds are expected to be 8-12 mph, with gusts up to 20 mph.The extended outlook includes the chance for scattered thunderstorms over the next few days.
Papoose Fire: Scattered interior heat on the fire are being monitored, while the lines look good overall. The fire will continue to be in monitoring and mop up status. Afternoon west-southwest winds on ridgetops could result in isolated fire activity. Structure protection will remain in place where appropriate.
Eastern Zone West Fork Fire: There are minimal areas of heat on this part of the fire. Monitoring and patrol will be in place on hot areas of the fire. This fire is not anticipated to be influenced by ridgetop winds this afternoon. Crews will be available for initial attack if needed.
West Zone of West Fork Complex (Includes Western Part of West Fork and Windy Pass Fires)
A stagnant and strong high pressure over the area maintains warm conditions for the next couple of days. Extended forecast calls for slow moisture return to this region by the weekend. The daily monsoon patterns are expected to return by Thursday through Sunday.
Firefighters will continue to monitor, patrol and start to haul back excess equipment and trash from the fireline. Main objectives today will be continuing to patrol and monitor for fire activity and readiness for any new attacks to assist the San Juan National Forest. Weather permitting, aerial monitoring and attack will continue.
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 will continue to patrol and monitor the fire area. A resource advisor from the forest will be traveling near the fireline to assess firefighting impacts.
Williams Creek Contingency Group: Firefighters will continue structure protection and patrol 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/cgibin/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:
Mandatory evacuations remain in effect for Rio Grande Reservoir (Forest Road 520) and the Wintz Property. S Lazy U and Wilderness Ranch have been removed from mandatory evacuation. Spar City remains in pre-evacuation status. For current evacuation status, contact your local county sheriff.
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. 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: 109,100 acres Percent Contained: 19%
Windy Pass: 1,417 acres Cause: Lightning
Papoose: 49,107 acres Total Personnel: 708
West Fork: 58,576 acres
Resources Include: 3 Type-1 hand crews, 8 Type-2 hand crews, 36 engines, 2 dozers, 11 water tenders, and 288 overhead personnel.
Air Resources: 5 Type-1 helicopters, 2 Type-2 helicopters, and 3 Type 3-helicopters.
For more information:
Blog: http://westforkfirecomplex.blogspot.com/ | Website: http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/3436/
Twitter: @RioGrandeUSFS | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatBasin
Photos: http://s1286.photobucket.com/user/WestForkComplex/library/
###
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
West Fork Complex Fire Update, Tuesday, July 9, 2013
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/
###
Monday, July 8, 2013
West Fork Complex Fire Update, Monday, July 8, 2013
West
Fork Complex Fire Update - Correction
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: 970-731-2432
Hours of operation: 8:00 a.m.
– 9:00 p.m.
East Zone Email: WestForkFire.EastZone@gmail.com
West Zone Email: westforkfire@gmail.com
Monday, July 8, 2013
12:15 p.m.
Correction – Earlier update
listed Crooked Creek Subdivision as still under mandatory evacuation. It is
not. It is the Wilderness Ranch Subdivision which remains evacuated.
Special Messages: A community meeting will be held in Creede, Colorado
this Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. to give a fire update and address any
questions from citizens. It will be at
the Creede High School 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):
A drying trend will begin today and continue through at least Tuesday
with only isolated thunderstorms possible across the fire. Wind gusts from these storms can be as high as
35-40 miles per hour.
East Zone of the West
Fork Complex (Includes Papoose Fire and Eastern Part of West Fork Fires)
Crews will continue patrolling and monitoring the fire perimeter, taking
direct action when and where they can safely do so, and when needed to prevent the
fire’s spread toward homes or other values. Significant amounts of moisture fell on some
areas of the West Fork Fire Sunday, which will dampen fire activity today. However other areas received little or no rain
and with drier, and at times windier conditions predicted today and tomorrow,
firefighters have been reminded to be cautious. There are numerous spruce and aspen “snags”
across all areas of the fire – trees with weakened or burned away root systems
and they can fall at any time. At this
morning’s daily briefing Safety Officer Paul Gauchy cautioned that “those snags
are weaker today than they were yesterday, and a lot weaker than they were last
week.” It’s a reminder residents and
visitors should keep in mind when they eventually return to areas impacted by
the fire.
Papoose Fire: With
conditions drying out and gusty winds, the fire may be more active and smoke
may be visible in some areas of the Papoose fire, including the Highway 149
corridor north and west of Creede.
Eastern Part of West Fork
Fire: Substantial amounts, up to one half inch, of
rain, fell over parts of the fire Sunday which should slow the fire’s activity
today.
West Zone of West Fork
Complex (Includes Western Part of West Fork and Windy Pass Fires)
Weather (West
Zone): A stagnant and strong high
pressure over the area will slowly make westerly movement over the next couple
of days. This shift will cause change in
fire behavior: firefighters are expecting lower relative humidity and warmer
temperatures and the effects that will take on the fuels.
Firefighters will continue to patrol and monitor and are ready to respond to any new fire activity. Weather permitting, aerial monitoring will continue. The new starts that occurred on Saturday near Shaw and Bear Creek on the western side of Williams Lake Reservoir area are contained.
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: Some mandatory and pre-evacuation areas are
being lifted as of 6:00 p.m, today. Areas around the Wilderness Ranch subdivision, Red Mountain Ranch and Humphreys Lake
will remain under mandatory evacuation and the Spar City area will remain on
pre-evacuation notice. An updated map
showing the changes in status will be posted to the fire update blog and
InciWeb later today (see links below). Residents are reminded to remain
vigilant and be prepared to evacuate in the event that fire activity
changes.
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: 110,405 acres
Percent Contained: 19%
Windy
Pass: 1,417 acres
Cause: Lightning
Papoose: 49,056 acres
Total Personnel: 817
West Fork: 59,932 acres
Resources Include: 4 Type 1 hand crews, 8 Type 2 hand
crews, 40 engines, 2 dozers, 20 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/
###
Sunday, July 7, 2013
West Fork Complex Fire Update, Sunday, July 7, 2013
West
Fork Complex Fire Update
Eastern Great Basin Incident
Management Team – Beth Lund, Incident Commander
Central Coast Interagency
Incident Management Team 7 – Mark Nunez, Incident Commander
East Zone Phone: 719-569-4149
West Zone Phone: 970-731-2432
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 7, 2013
9:00 a.m.
Special Messages: Heavy holiday traffic is expected throughout the
fire area today. Drivers are cautioned that there continues to be heavy fire
traffic as well. A community meeting
will be held in Creede, Colorado this Wednesday evening to give a fire update
and address any citizen concerns. The exact
time and location will be in tomorrow’s update.
Current Situation
Weather:
Scattered thunderstorms are expected to develop by early afternoon,
moving to the east to northeast at about 20 mph. A drying trend is expected Monday and
Tuesday.
East Zone of the West
Fork Complex (Includes Papoose and Eastern Part of West Fork Fires)
High humidity and light rain has allowed firefighters to make good
progress improving containment lines and checking the fire’s spread. However the fire continues to smolder in many
places and “with sunshine, warmth and wind, the fire still has the potential to
become active again,” according to Jeff Surber, Planning Operations for the
incident management team. Fire potential
remains high in areas where a majority of the spruce trees have been killed by
beetle infestations. The firefighting
strategies include protection for homes and businesses and other high value
resources, such as the Rio Grande Reservoir Dam.
Papoose Fire: Some
single and small group torching of trees was reported Saturday, although some
areas of Papoose did get light rain during the day. Work will continue today in the Red Mountain
Ranch area to prevent the fire from spreading north back towards Highway 149.
Eastern Part of West Fork
Fire: Firefighters are continuing fire line construction
in the Elk Mountain area where smoke continues to be visible and the fire is
most active. Forecasted rain may help
mop-up operations but gusty and erratic winds also increase the danger from
falling trees (snags), as well as the potential for rapid fire growth.
West Zone of West Fork
Complex (Includes Western Part of West Fork and Windy Pass Fires)
Weather for the west zone is expected to hold a similar pattern as the last two days: mostly cloudy and scattered thunderstorms especially in the afternoon. Temperatures will be in the mid 70’s with winds from the Southwest. The inversion that has kept the smoke in the low elevations the last few days is expected to be lighter.
Weather for the west zone is expected to hold a similar pattern as the last two days: mostly cloudy and scattered thunderstorms especially in the afternoon. Temperatures will be in the mid 70’s with winds from the Southwest. The inversion that has kept the smoke in the low elevations the last few days is expected to be lighter.
Minimal fire growth occurred last night.
Firefighters will continue to patrol and monitor and are ready to
respond to any new fire activity. Weather permitting, aerial monitoring will
continue. The new starts that occurred yesterday
near Shaw and Bear Creek on the western side of Williams Lake Reservoir area
are contained.
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.
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: Some areas remain under evacuation, others on
pre-evacuation notice. Residents are
reminded to remain vigilant and be prepared to evacuate in the event that fire
activity changes. Visit http://westforkfirecomplex.blogspot.com/
for a list of areas currently under evacuation or pre-evacuation.
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
Start Date: 06/05/2013
Complex Size: 110,028 acres
Percent Contained: 25%
Percent Contained: 25%
Windy
Pass: 1,417 acres
Cause: Lightning
Cause: Lightning
Papoose: 48,652 acres
Total Personnel: 949
Total Personnel: 949
West Fork: 59,959 acres
Resources Include: 5 Type 1 hand crews, 9 Type 2 hand crews, 50 engines, 2 dozers, 16 water
tenders, and overhead personnel
Air Resources: 5 Type 1 helicopters,
1 Type 2 helicopter, and 3 Type 3 helicopters.
Places
to get information:
Twitter:
@RioGrandeUSFS
###
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