Evening Update for the High Park Fire: June 27 at 7:40 PM (#HighParkFire)

Information from the High Park Fire Public Information Officers


The High Park Fire is estimated at 87,284 acres, meaning the fire did not grow today. Containment is estimated at 75 percent. The estimated containment date has been moved up from July 30th to July 15th. The current cost of the fire to date is estimated at 33.5 million dollars. There are 1,313 fire personnel assigned to the firefighting effort. Equipment resources include: 6 Type 1 hand crews, 11 Type 2 hand crews, 103 engines, 11 dozers and 18 water tenders. Air Resources include; 3 Type I (heavy) helicopters, 1 Type II (medium) helicopters, 3 Type III (light) helicopters, 1 Type II helicopter with a radiometric imaging system attached, fixed wing support aircraft, and available heavy air tankers.

Current Situation:

Persistent hot, dry weather continues to make live and dead fuels available in all fuel types. Current fire behavior is described as backing and smoldering. However, continued variable wind direction and speed, along with thunderstorm gusts, could cause active torching in the fire area.

Planned Actions:
Planned actions for tomorrow include: On all portions of the fire, line reinforcement, holding, mop-up and structure protection to maintain existing control lines will continue. The remote sensing data will be used tactically to guide firefighters to remaining heat pockets around structures and within unburned islands in the interior of the burn area. Hazard trees are being removed along public roads to allow power companies to restore electricity and meet re-entry requirements. Evacuated sub-divisions will be progressively re-opened based on public safety considerations.

Structures Damaged:

The total of homes destroyed to date remains at 257.

Reintegration:

High Park Fire officials reopened Red Feather Lakes Road (CR74E) at 5 p.m. today. All of the Glacier View subdivisions except the 12th Filing were reopened to residents. This includes North Rim Road, Kelly Flats and the Deer Meadow/Hewlett Gulch areas. The 12th Filing of Glacier View remains under evacuation.
Fire officials opened Hwy 14 for residents only from Missile Silo Road to Mishiwaka at noon today. No special passes are required, but residents should be ready to show identification containing their address at checkpoints and roadblocks.

Fire officials opened Stove Prairie Road for residents only from Stringtown Gulch Road to Buckhorn Road at noon today. No special passes are required, but residents should be ready to show identification at checkpoints and roadblocks. This includes the following roads:

  • Redtail Ridge - Patience Way
  • Moondance Way - Ohana Way
  • Vortex Drive - Lightning Ridge
  • Hawk Valley Drive

Residents will not be able to access properties from Buckhorn Road or from Stove Prairie Road north of Buckhorn Road at this time.

Fire officials opened another section of Redstone Canyon Road at noon today. Redstone Canyon Road is now open to residents only from Christ Mountain Road to the Laurence Creek entrance gate. No special passes are required, but residents should be ready to show identification at checkpoints and roadblocks. The Laurence Creek area remains under evacuation.

All residents returning to their homes need to remain vigilant and consider themselves in a pre-evacuation status until otherwise notified.

A large reintegration is planned for the Rist Canyon area at 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 28th. Several hundred residents will be allowed back to their homes in numerous neighborhoods. Over 700 notifications were made Tuesday afternoon. Residents are encouraged to attend the upcoming citizen briefings for critical safety, communications and utility information.

Residents will need credentials to enter the area when it opens. Credentials may be obtained in advance at the citizen briefings. A citizen briefing will be held at 5 p.m. on Thursday, June 27th at the Cache La Poudre Middle School, located at 3515 W. CR54G in La Porte. Credentials may also be obtained at the school between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Thursday.

The Rist Canyon areas to be opened are described below:
Rist Canyon Road (and all connecting roadways) west to Stove Prairie Road.
Old Flowers Road from Stove Prairie Road to the 8000 block of Old Flowers Road.
Stove Prairie Road between Buckhorn Road and Bent Timber Lane.

Weather:
A Red Flag warning remains in effect until 10 p.m. tonight. Frequent lightning and wind gusts of up to 50 mph continue to be concerns. A welcome rain shower moved through the area late Wednesday afternoon. The rainfall amount was minimal, but did dampen the ground without the damaging effects of flooding, and was helpful to the firefighting effort. Weather conditions are expected to be hot and dry tomorrow with possible thunderstorms in the late afternoon.

Resident Information (Meetings, Evacuation Notices and Evacuation Lift Notices:

Citizen Briefings will occur daily at 5 p.m. at the Cache La Poudre Middle School, 3515 W. CR54G in Laporte.

Media Briefing(s):

The next media briefing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 28, 2012. The media briefing for Friday, June 29th will be at 9 a.m. Briefings are held at the CSU Department of Atmospheric Science, located at 3915 W. Laporte Avenue in Fort Collins.

Cooperating and Assisting Agencies:

Larimer County Sheriff's Office, Colorado State Forest Service, Colorado Department of Public Safety, Colorado State Parks, Colorado State Patrol, Colorado State University Police Department, Fort Collins Police Services, National Guard Military Police, City of Fort Collins, Colorado State University, Rist Canyon Volunteer Fire Department, Poudre Fire Authority, Loveland Fire Rescue, Glacier View Volunteer Fire Department, Poudre Canyon Fire Protection District, and United States Geological Survey. There are also numerous utility companies and support agencies involved with infrastructure recovery efforts.

The Rist Canyon, Glacier View and Poudre Canyon Volunteer Fire Departments are looking for donations to help defray the costs of firefighters assigned to the High Park Fire. To make a donation, please visit their websites at:

Glacier View Fire -www.glacierviewfiredept.com
Rist Canyon Fire - www.rcvfd.org

Road Closure Information:

The following roads are closed:
- CR27 north from Buckhorn Rd (44H)
- Redstone Canyon (25E) north of the Laurence Creek Lane gate
- Hwy 14 from the Mishawaka west to Eggers
- Buckhorn Rd (CR44H) from CR27 west
- Rist Canyon Rd (CR52E) from 27E to Stove Prairie (CR27)
- Pingree Park Rd
- Old Flowers from CR27 west
- Laurence Creek Lane
The following roads are open with restricted access (RESIDENTS ONLY)
- CR27 from Stringtown Gulch Rd to Buckhorn Rd (CR44H)
- Hwy 14 to Mishawaka

The Larimer County Sheriff's Office now has a webpage dedicated to road closures due to the High Park Fire. Visit the link http://larimersheriff.org/site-page/high-park-fire-road-information for more information.

Photo and Video Links:

Photos and Video from the National Guard of the High Park Fire are available at the following sites:

Additional Information/Resources:

Larimer County has opened the High Park Fire Disaster Recovery Center on the Colorado State University Campus at Johnson Hall. The center is open Mon-Fri from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Parking is free for victims on the south side of the administration building. For more information, please visit their website at http://www.safety.colostate.edu.

Public information is available at the Larimer County Emergency Information line at 970-498-5500 where information officers are answering the phone during the day and evening, and at www.larimer.org or on Twitter @ larimersheriff or Inciweb at www.inciweb.org/incident/2904/.

Find out if your loved ones are safe here (Red Cross Safe and Well Registry):

For the latest updated map of the High Park Fire, check out this link:
Residents are reminded to receive emergency notifications on cell phones or email and should visit the website at www.leta911.org.

For Public Health Advisories regarding wildfires, see "Wildfires and Your Health" at http://www.larimer.org/health/

Jim Toomey
Public Information Officer
Larimer County Sheriff's Office