Firefighters with boots on the ground made progress on the eastern edge of the Pearl fire Wednesday despite gusty winds that made it unsafe for helicopters and airplanes to fight the wildfire from above, U.S. Forest Service officials said.
The human-caused fire, which sparked Monday, remained at 128 acres and 5% contained, U.S. Forest Service Incident Commander trainee Ty Gripp said during a Wednesday news conference.
An outbuilding near the point of origin was scorched by flames, Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen said, but investigators have found no other damaged buildings.
On Wednesday, 320 people were on scene in northern Larimer County, Gripp said. Heavy, downed timber made it challenging for crews on the ground who were working to build containment lines and unexpected winds Wednesday caused setbacks for crews dropping water and slurry from the air.
Overnight, lower temperatures and higher relative humidity helped reduce fire activity, Gripp said, though very little rain fell on the fire Tuesday.
Hundreds of people remain under mandatory and voluntary evacuations as wind remains a risk for unpredicted fire behavior and growth, Feyen said.
“It’s windy up there. It’s really, really windy up there. So that brings a certain degree of concern,” he said.
On Tuesday, Feyen said his office knows who started the fire, but declined to release more information as they continue to investigate.
“We have talked to an individual, but we’re making sure that our evidence is going to take us down the same pathway as the story that we’ve been given, before we come out and say, ‘here’s what we believe happened,’” Feyen said.
The fire was first reported about 11 a.m. Monday when smoke was seen coming from a fire about 5 miles northwest of Red Feather Lakes, the sheriff’s office said. The fire was sparked on private property.