High Park Fire Update: June 27 at 12:30 PM(#HighParkFire)

Information from the High Park Fire Public Information Officers

 

The High Park Fire is estimated at 87,284 acres with 65 percent containment. The current cost of the fire to date is estimated at 33.1 million dollars. There are 1,805 fire personnel assigned to the firefighting effort. Equipment resources include: 10 Type 1 hand crews, 18 Type 2 hand crews, 156 engines, 11 dozers and 24 water tenders. Air Resources include; 7 Type I (heavy) helicopters, 3 Type II (medium) helicopters, 6 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:


Groups of trees are still torching in the fire’s interior, where several acres burned, but the perimeter of the fire did not grow Tuesday. Some little pockets between houses still show smoke.
Engines patrolled structure areas all night. Crews are felling hundreds of hazard snags along public access roads, and assisting agencies that are repairing power and utility lines, in an effort to speed return of evacuees to their homes.
 
As crews gain containment on the High Park fire, fire managers plan to share resources with other fires along the Front Range. “We are going to help those folks out,” said Incident Commander Beth Lund, coordinating the most effective use of resources.

The High Park fire will retain more than enough resources to meet any challenges our fire may offer. Air Operations Director Hugh Carson said, “We will have the necessary retardant capability and aircraft to manage flare-ups. We will continue to have dawn-to-dusk aircraft coverage over the incident.”

Planned Actions:

Wednesday’s plan calls for continued intensive mop-up of remaining smoke and heat. Firefighters will focus on smoke or flame near the line, with ground forces assisted by aerial water drops. Most heat is on the western side of the fire. Structure protection groups of engines remain at Glacier View, Poudre Park, Rist Canyon, and Rustic.

Structures Damaged:


The total of homes destroyed to date remains at 257. 

Officials are informing homeowners about fire damage as that information becomes available and the priority will be getting this information to residents first. As more assessments are made and information becomes available, residents will be notified. Areas still evacuated are being evaluated to determine when residents may re-enter. Factors being considered before lifting an evacuation include fire activity, utility repair, emergency traffic in the area, and road hazards such as falling rocks and trees. Formal assessment of structures is a methodical process and will continue for at least a couple of weeks. Some areas are still inaccessible due to fire activity and road hazards.

Reintegration:


Officials anticipate opening Hwy 14 (residents only) from Hewlett Gulch Road to Mishiwaka at noon today. Residents should be ready to show identification at checkpoints and roadblocks.Officials anticipate opening Stove Prairie Road (residents only) from Springtown Gulch Road to Buckhorn Road at noon today. Residents should be ready to show identification at checkpoints and roadblocks.

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 this 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. To facilitate the issuance of credentials, and to avoid last minute delays, credentials may be obtained in advance at the citizen briefings. Citizen briefings will be held at 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, June 27th and 28th. The briefings will be held at the Cache La Poudre Middle School, located at 3515 W. CR54G in La Porte. Credentials may also be obtained 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 roads accessed from it) from Whale Rock Road 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.
All residents returning to their homes need to remain vigilant and consider themselves in a pre-evacuation status until otherwise notified.

Weather:

A Red Flag warning has been issued until 8 p.m. tonight. This marks the 8th consecutive day of Red Flag warnings. Dry, frequent lightning and gusty winds are expected. Wind gusts up to 50 mph are considered likely. These conditions may contribute to intense fire activity.

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. It will be 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:


Road Closure Information:

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):
https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php

For the latest updated map of the High Park Fire, check out this link:http://www.larimer.org/highparkfire/highpark_0623_2239.pdf

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

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