West
Fork Complex Fire Update
Rocky Mountain Incident
Management Team- Pete Blume, Incident Commander
Phoenix National Incident
Management Organization- Curtis Heaton, Incident Commander
Joint Information Center:
719-569-4149 or 719-657-3279
Hours of operation: 8:00 am –
9:00 pm
West Zone Email: westforkfire@gmail.com
East Zone Email: WestForkFire.EastZone@gmail.com
July 2, 2013
9:00 am
Special Message: We will publish the daily update once per day at 9
a.m., with Tweet and Blog entries throughout the day.
With
the Fourth of July weekend ahead, motorists can expect to see firefighting
traffic along Highways 160 and 149.
Please watch your speed.
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 point
protection for structures and high value resources, monitoring, and confining
the fire in areas where it will not pose an issue for the local area during the
remainder of the summer.
Papoose Fire: Last night, firefighters were able to
take advantage of the humidity recover overnight, allowing them to continue mop
up in areas where heat around structures still remained. Humidity is a measure
of the amount of moisture in the air.
Today, firefighters
will continue mopping up around structures and start confining the northern
part of the fire, from the Rio Grande Reservoir around the north and then
south, along Highway 149. Falling trees
in some areas of the fire are creating an unsafe situation and firefighters are
avoiding those areas. Fire intensity is
expected to increase in the next few days, especially in areas of gusty winds
due to thunderstorms. Some burn out will
take place in areas where wind will help keep fire spread away from
structures. This will help to even out
the fire line and achieve confinement.
Eastern Part of West Fork
Fire: Firefighters
will continue achieving confinement of the fire from Humphreys Lake, moving
north and then around the Elk Mountain area, moving south along Highway
160. Firefighters will monitor the areas
of the fire that are inaccessible.
West Zone of West Fork
Complex (Includes Western Part of West Fork and Windy Pass Fires)
Firefighters are removing excess equipment and are prepared to respond to
any new fire starts that may have occurred during the past few days. As
firefighters secure the West Zone, aviation resources will be repositioned to
other areas of the fire and are available to support ground resources when
requested. As July 4th festivities draw closer, there is increased
traffic on the roads. Firefighters and the public are asked to be careful when
driving.
The San Juan National Forest is at Stage II Fire Restrictions starting
July 2. Archuleta County remains at
Stage 1. Additional information can be found on the San Juan National Forest’s
website: http://www.fs.usda.gov/main/sanjuan/home
West Zone West Fork Fire/Windy Pass: 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. Crews completed backhauling excess firefighting equipment
at Borns Lake, Bruce Spruce and Wolf Creek.
On Windy Pass, firefighters are removing excess equipment
from the fire area, and continue to patrol and monitor the fire area.
Weather: Isolated thunderstorms are expected
today, but those that do buildup will have little or no precipitation reaching
the ground. Lightning and gusty, erratic
winds will accompany any of the thunderstorms today. Temperatures will be just a few degrees
warmer than Monday. The remainder of the
week will show a similar weather pattern.
Public
Health and Safety: Smoke
monitors are in place in Pagosa Springs, Freemon’s Ranch, and Creede, with one
monitor yet to be installed at South Fork (on its way). The monitors are identified as #78 (Creede),
#69 (Freemon’s Ranch) and #65 (Pagosa Springs) and 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. Reduced speed is posted
on Highway 160. 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 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 affecting the Rio Grande National Forest go to: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/riogrande/notices/?cid=STELPRDB5143145.
Fire Information Meetings: None scheduled at this
time.
Media Briefings: There are no scheduled media briefings. If media are interested in a briefing or
interview, please contact the East Zone Information Office at (719) 657-3279 or
West Zone Information office at (970) 731-2432.
Fire Statistics:
Location: 14.5 miles north/northeast of Pagosa Springs, CO Start
Date: 06/05/2013
Complex Size: 94,476 acres Percent Contained: 7%
Windy
Pass: 1,417 acres Cause: Lightning
Papoose: 36,510 acres Total Personnel: 1,464
West Fork: 56,549 acres
Resources Include: 8 Type 1 hand crews, 20 Type 2 hand crews, 82 engines, 5 dozers, 13 water
tenders, and overhead personnel
Air Resources: 6 Type 1 helicopters,
4 Type 2 helicopters, and 10 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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