East Peak Fire containment increased to 50%

Firefighters continue to make great progress on the East Peak Fire. Estimated size as of 9:00 a.m. this morning is at 13,491 acres with 50 % containment. The night shift crew took the advantage of the cool evening to detect heat, especially around structures and continued to mop up throughout their shift. On top of the mop up work, burn out operations were conducted last night to reduce the amount of remaining unburned pockets of fuel. An estimated 80 acres were controlled in this fashion. This will aid in decreasing the likelihood of fuels igniting during the optimal burning conditions during the day.

The day shift today will continue to focus on mop up. Firefighters will be gridding along firelines and structures. Gridding and cold trailing is used together as a technique to make sure the fire is out and cold. Gridding is when firefighters walk in unison in a line to locate any pockets of heat left in the fire, followed by cold trailing where they take off their gloves and use the back of their hand to make sure that the burned area is cool to the touch. Firefighters use all of their senses during their work, not just their hands but they actively look for difference in the colors in the ashes, watch for insect activities, smell of the ground, and any sounds from remaining embers.

A Red Flag warning is issued today from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. This will add to the challenge that the firefighters are faced with critical fuel conditions, ongoing multi-year drought persisting and forecasted temperature to rise up to 87 degrees. Safety remains as the top priority for the firefighters and the public for this incident.

A community meeting is scheduled for today June 25th, Tuesday at La Veta Town Park at 7:00 p.m.

For more information about this and other fires, log onto www.inciweb.org. Follow the fire on Twitter @TeamC_FireInfo. Messages from the Incident Commander and other information are posted on the Team C website at http://sites.google.com/site/rmteamc. For more information, call 719-315-4808 or 719-742-3882.

Information provided by East Peak Fire Information Officer.