Crews made major headway on the Interlaken fire burning near Twin Lakes in Lake County, and have the blaze 86% contained, officials said Sunday evening.
The fire, which started Tuesday because of an improperly extinguished campfire just off the Interlaken trail, has burned 731 acres, officials said in their Sunday night update. The burn area grew by another 100-plus acres through the day Sunday but containment went from 45% to 86%.
“This larger number is due in part to more accurate mapping from our most recent … flight, and to increased acreage on the north edge of the fire where it continues to slowly back down toward the trail near the lake,” fire officials said in their update.
There are 256 personnel, five helicopters and a fixed-wing aircraft working the fire.
Crews were able to take advantage of cooler weather Friday to start making progress on containing the fire, which is burning southwest of Leadville. By Saturday night they had the fire 45% contained, up from 15% in the morning.
During a community meeting Saturday in Leadville, officials said the wet conditions and a prescribed burn from six years ago have helped keep the Interlaken fire from growing more.
Chris Naccarato, who is the U.S. Forest Service fire management officer for the mountain zone fire district based out of Salida and Leadville, said firefighters are “pretty lucky that this fire started when it did, because we’re in moderate fire danger conditions.”
“This fire has been burning since Tuesday and we’re still under 600 acres, and that’s pretty cool,” he said Saturday. “I venture to say that if this fire had started in the end of July or August, we might be looking at a 60,000-acre fire. Again, I know it doesn’t feel like it, but it’s because of that moderate fire conditions that things are really … the fire activity isn’t what it could be if we were a lot hotter and drier.”
The Flume Creek prescribed burn from 2018 also has stopped the spread to the east of the Interlaken fire, officials said. That burn covered about 120 acres.
The Interlaken fire started near the Interlaken historic district, but no structures have burned. Firefighters have been camped out at the historic site to protect the buildings, officials said during Saturday’s community meeting.
Sheriff’s offices in Lake and Chaffee counties also have canceled all pre-evacuation notices sent out earlier this week, they said Saturday evening.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 7:42 p.m. Sunday to include the most recent fire information on size and containment.