Firefighters on Friday are bracing for the possibility of continuing growth of the Aspen Acres fire, warning that storms moving into the area could fan flames with high winds.
The region has received rain, though lightning and “erratic winds” from storms have created conditions for increased fire activity and the potential for new fires to ignite, according to a Friday morning update.
The Aspen Acres fire, southwest of Pueblo, is holding steady at 101,546 acres burned with 61% containment. It remains the state’s largest fire and the seventh largest in Colorado history.
Firefighters on Thursday attacked a new fire, dubbed the Salt fire, that spread across one-fourth of an acre near the Aspen Acres fire. Helicopters transported firefighters to the new fire to build defensive lines all around it.
Crews reported “minimal” fire activity near the community of San Isabel thanks to precipitation and higher humidity. Still, areas with significant fuels continue to burn. Responders are trying to use strategic burning to strengthen containment lines when conditions allow.
Crews working near Rye and Saint Charles Peak have reinforced bulldozer and hand lines as fire activity has calmed. Engines have continued to rove around the region to look for remaining heat and respond to reports of smoke around the fire’s southern perimeter.
Meanwhile, personnel along the eastern and northern borders of the fire have focused on repairing spots damaged due to firefighting efforts. A response team has also been deployed to the burn scar to gauge post-fire hazards, burn severity and damaged or destroyed infrastructure.
Areas around San Isabel reopened to residents Friday morning, requiring them to return through McKenzie Junction and flash a re-entry card. Highway 165 is open only to residents with a card.
Residents living near the southern edge of the fire have also gone back home.
Temperatures into the 90s are expected Friday with afternoon thunderstorms in the forecast, ushering in “gusty and erratic winds” and creating the potential for flash flooding.
Gold Mountain fire
Firefighters battling the Gold Mountain fire near Ouray have increased containment to 27% as the fire remains active across 38,052 acres, according to a Friday morning update.
Officials say fire activity was minimal Thursday. Crews are focused on improving containment lines in all divisions of the fire and using several strategies across different parts of the fire, working to cut down on fuels with masticators and chippers, installing waterbars, using skidders and log trucks to clear timber from containment lines and bringing in pumps and sprinklers to drench the valley.
“Initial attack crews are poised for response following recent lightning, and aircraft support that is shared with the Elk fire may assist on new ignitions when weather permits,” the update stated.
Meanwhile, an emergency response team is putting together a plan to evaluate how the fire has impacted vegetation, soil and watershed functions “to stabilize the landscape and mitigate post-fire hazards.”
The forecast for the next few days shows warm and dry conditions. There is a chance of isolated and scattered storms across the high country and winds could reach up to 20 mph.
The conditions will encourage “moderate fire behavior,” according to the update.
“Backing, flanking and isolated tree torching may be expected,” the update stated. “Despite recent precipitation, heat remains within the fire area, obscured within and beneath logs, in roots underground and other sheltered fuels.”
Interior spots may also produce isolated smoke plumes, though they do not threaten containment.
Responders are urging the public to “remain cautious” while driving around local roads, including U.S. 550 and U.S. 50, while hundreds of firefighters continue to move heavy equipment and engines in the area.
Ferris fire
The Ferris fire near Dolores reached 97% containment as of Friday morning, scorching 64,881 acres.
Officials report “no observable fire behavior for many days,” except for a spot in the northwest interior where there is smoke.
Crews have finished removing equipment and have fully repaired 504 Road.
Dry weather is forecast for the weekend, when crews plan to continue chipping, fixing roads and repairing any damages to land from firefighting activities.
Responders also plan to bring in an excavator to repair damage from water and mud in the northeast part of the fire along the 240 Road in the Ryman Creek area. Additionally, they will use a feller buncher to “mitigate hazard trees” in major burn areas along the 521 Road, according to the latest update.
Willow fire
A team of 535 responders has contained 55% of the Willow fire up from 51%, holding the fire west of Leadville to 7,196 acres, according to a Friday morning update.
Responders are expecting “minimal” fire activity Friday because of weather. Increased temperatures and dry conditions are forecast for the next several days, with the possibility of isolated afternoon thunderstorms.
Showers and thunderstorms traveled through the area Thursday, though the fire area only received light precipitation up to 0.13 inches, according to the update.
Crews are continuing to secure firelines in the area close to the fish hatchery. Crews along the fire’s western perimeter are focused on responding to spot fires as they pop up. Other crews near the Bald Eagle Mountain and fish hatchery along the Arkansas River are repairing spots damaged by firefighting and those in the Halfmoon Creek area are chipping vegetation along the contingency line.
Fishhook fire
Firefighters have gained almost complete control over the Fishhook fire burning southeast of Steamboat Springs, reaching 94% containment by Friday morning. The wildfire spans 309 acres with 219 responders battling the blaze.
Showers moving through the area this week helped quell the fire, officials said. They spent much of Thursday removing hoses, equipment and flagging from the fire lines.
“Yesterday was very quiet as expected based on the rain we got the evening before,” Ashleigh D’Antonio, operations section chief with the Southwest Area Complex Incident Management Team 1, said in a Friday morning video update.
Firefighters “found very little heat” when flying a drone over the scene and “did not find anything of note,” D’Antonio said.
Firefighters on Friday will focus on patrolling the fire lines and working to detect any remaining heat, she said.
Elk fire
The Elk fire north of Lake City remained at 2,310 acres with 0% containment as firefighters tackle the fire through an “indirect containment strategy” for the safety of firefighters, Chad Rowland, an operations section chief trainee with Northwest Incident Management Team 8, said in a Friday morning video update.
“This fire is remote, rugged,” Rowland said. “There’s a lot of dead trees out there with the beetle kill, and it’s just not safe for us to engage firefighters on the fire’s edge.”
The response team’s plan is a more effective approach to protecting the community long term, he said.
“There’s a good chance that as the summer goes on that things will dry out and this fire could come back alive again,” Rowland said. “And so we want to provide before we leave the best chance for success for the communities and the homes here.”
The fire has not moved in recent days. Crews on Friday will clean up areas around dozer lines, thin potential fuels and chip what they cut at the north end of the fire. Firefighters completed secondary control lines farther south in burn areas west of Lake City. They also set up water bars to divert water and protect the area from erosion and will also begin chipping vegetation.
Chipping vegetation and reducing fuels are also top priorities around Nellie Creek Road, Rowland said. The local forest service unit is using a dozer to improve the road and make it easier for responders to evacuate anyone injured and for the public using the Nellie Creek Trailhead in the future.
This is a developing story that will be updated.