Information from the High Park Fire Public Information Officers
The
High Park Fire is estimated at 87,284 acres, meaning the fire did not grow
today. Containment is estimated at 75 percent. The estimated containment date
has been moved up from July 30th to July 15th. The current cost of the fire to
date is estimated at 33.5 million dollars. There are 1,313 fire
personnel
assigned to the firefighting effort.
Equipment resources include: 6 Type 1 hand crews, 11 Type 2 hand crews, 103
engines, 11 dozers and 18 water tenders. Air Resources
include;
3 Type I (heavy) helicopters, 1 Type II (medium) helicopters, 3 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:
Persistent
hot, dry weather continues to make live and dead fuels available in all fuel
types. Current fire behavior is described as backing and smoldering. However,
continued variable wind direction and speed, along with thunderstorm gusts,
could cause active torching in the fire area.
Planned
Actions:
Planned
actions for tomorrow include: On all portions of the fire, line reinforcement,
holding, mop-up and structure protection to maintain existing control lines will
continue. The remote sensing data will be used tactically to guide firefighters
to remaining heat pockets around structures and within unburned islands in the
interior of the burn area. Hazard trees are being removed along public roads to
allow power companies to restore electricity and meet re-entry requirements.
Evacuated sub-divisions will be progressively re-opened based on public safety
considerations.
Structures Damaged:
The
total of homes destroyed to date remains at 257.
Reintegration:
High
Park Fire officials reopened Red Feather Lakes Road (CR74E) at 5 p.m. today. All
of the Glacier View subdivisions except the 12th Filing were reopened to
residents. This includes North Rim Road, Kelly Flats and the Deer Meadow/Hewlett
Gulch areas. The 12th Filing of Glacier View remains under evacuation.
Fire
officials opened Hwy 14 for residents only from Missile Silo Road to Mishiwaka
at noon today. No special passes are required, but residents should be ready to
show identification containing their address at checkpoints and
roadblocks.
Fire
officials opened Stove Prairie Road for residents only from Stringtown Gulch
Road to Buckhorn Road at noon today. No special passes are required, but
residents should be ready to show identification at checkpoints and roadblocks.
This includes the following roads:
- Redtail Ridge - Patience Way
- Moondance Way - Ohana Way
- Vortex Drive - Lightning Ridge
- Hawk Valley Drive
Residents
will not be able to access properties from Buckhorn Road or from Stove Prairie
Road north of Buckhorn Road at this time.
Fire
officials opened another section of Redstone Canyon Road at noon today. Redstone
Canyon Road is now open to residents only from Christ Mountain Road to the
Laurence Creek entrance gate. No special passes are required, but residents
should be ready to show identification at checkpoints and roadblocks. The
Laurence Creek area remains under evacuation.
All
residents returning to their homes need to remain vigilant and consider
themselves in a pre-evacuation status until otherwise
notified.
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 Tuesday 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. Credentials may be
obtained in advance at the citizen briefings. A citizen briefing will be held at
5 p.m. on Thursday, June 27th at the Cache La Poudre Middle School, located at
3515 W. CR54G in La Porte. Credentials may also be obtained at the school
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 connecting roadways) 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.
Weather:
A
Red Flag warning remains in effect until 10 p.m. tonight. Frequent lightning and
wind gusts of up to 50 mph continue to be concerns. A welcome rain shower moved
through the area late Wednesday afternoon. The rainfall amount was minimal, but
did dampen the ground without the damaging effects of flooding, and was helpful
to the firefighting effort. Weather conditions are expected to be hot and dry
tomorrow with possible thunderstorms in the late afternoon.
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. The
media briefing for Friday, June 29th will be at 9 a.m. Briefings are 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:
Glacier
View Fire
-www.glacierviewfiredept.com
Rist
Canyon Fire
-
www.rcvfd.org
Poudre
Canyon Fire
- www.poudrecanyonfiredistrict.org/
Road Closure Information:
The
following roads are closed:
-
CR27 north from Buckhorn Rd (44H)
-
Redstone Canyon (25E) north of the Laurence Creek Lane gate
-
Hwy 14 from the Mishawaka west to Eggers
-
Buckhorn Rd (CR44H) from CR27 west
-
Rist Canyon Rd (CR52E) from 27E to Stove Prairie (CR27)
-
Pingree Park Rd
-
Old Flowers from CR27 west
-
Laurence Creek Lane
The
following roads are open with restricted access (RESIDENTS ONLY)
-
CR27 from Stringtown Gulch Rd to Buckhorn Rd (CR44H)
-
Hwy 14 to Mishawaka
The
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):
For
the latest updated map of the High Park Fire, check out this link:
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
