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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