Great Basin Incident
Management Team 1 – Beth Lund, Incident Commander
Fire Information Phone: 719-569-4149
Hours of operation: 8:00 a.m.
– 9:00 p.m.
Special Message Update: Forest Service Road 520 to the Rio Grande Reservoir is now open.
Current Situation:
As of 8 PM last night command
of both the East & West Zones of the complex have been assumed by the Great
Basin Incident Management Team 1.
Last
night much of the complex received measurable precipitation around two tenths
of an inch, mainly North of the Continental Divide of the West Fork Fire and
the Papoose Fire.
Weather (North of the Continental Divide): 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 and flash flood watches in place from noon to 9 PM in all three fire
areas.
Papoose Fire: Continued scattered interior heat on the fire
is 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 ridge tops could result in isolated fire activity. Structure protection will remain in place
where appropriate. Last night’s rainfall
estimated at two tenths of an inch may produce small ash flows in drainages.
Additionally,
a new lighting strike fire was spotted near Humphries above the 4U R Ranch which
was quickly located and contained by fire crews already assigned to the
complex.
West Fork Fire (North of
the Continental Divide: 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 ridge top winds this afternoon. Crews
will be available for initial attack if needed.
Increasing monsoon moisture that began midweek will continue to move
across the area through the weekend and into early next week. 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 fires to assist both national forests.
Weather permitting, aerial monitoring and initial attack will
continue.
West Fork Fire (South of the Continental Divide): As fire
activity is low and weather conditions continue to remain favorable,
firefighters will work to clean up the local area. By the end of shift today, it is anticipated
that all equipment, flagging and signage will have been recovered from the
firelines and surrounding areas. This
equipment will be returned for rehabilitation and ready for use on the next incident. Firefighters will continue to patrol the
fires are available for Initial Attack as needed. 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 and 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.
Public Health and Safety:
You
can expect to see smoke across parts of the fire for the next several days to
weeks. The past couple of days smoke has
been noted coming from the East Fork of Trout Creek and settling down into the
valley below. 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:
The
San Juan National Forest has announced that the East Fork Road (FS Road #667)
from the East Fork Campground to its eastern terminus at FS Road #380 at Elwood
Pass will be reopened along with the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail
(FS Trail #813) from the East Fork Road at Elwood Pass north and west to its
junction with Highway 160 will be reopened and the Silver Creek Trail (FS Trail
#567), which starts off the East Fork Road, will be reopened. 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.
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: 109,610 acres Percent Contained: 32%
Windy
Pass: 1,417 acres Cause: Lightning
Papoose: 49,628 acres Total Personnel: 623
West Fork: 58,570 acres
Resources Include: 1 Type-1 hand crews * (a second Type-1 hand crew was reassigned early
this morning to another fire.) 10 Type-2 hand crews, 24 engines, 1 dozers, 7
water tenders, and 220 overhead personnel.
Air Resources: 3 Type-1 helicopters, 2 Type-2 helicopters, and 2
Type 3-helicopters.
Information
Traplines:
Today will be the final day the fire information team
will posting fire information updates and maps at the
over 80 businesses & government offices in Lake
City, Creede, Monte Vista, South Fork, Del Norte and
Pagosa Springs.
Beth Lund’s Great Basin Incident management Team 1 would like to thank all
the
communities for their kind support of
our firefighters and the 80 businesses and agencies for assisting
us in sharing the changing status of
this incident with the visitors and residents of this beautiful area.
For
more information:
Twitter:
@RioGrandeUSFS | Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GreatBasin
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