Residents of Poudre Park were allowed to return on Thursday, 6/21/2012, at 12:00 pm (noon). Credentials are required and must be obtained at the checkpoint at Highway 14 and County Road 29C or at The Ranch.
· NOTE: This evacuation lift does NOT include Unger Mountain Road, Falls Gulch Road and King's Canyon Road (Boyd Gulch Road)
For residents who have evacuated livestock and large animals that
are currently housed at The Ranch, there will be a follow-up meeting on Friday, June 22, 2012 at The Ranch inside of the Ranch-Way Feeds Indoor Arena in the grandstands. The meeting will be at 5:15 p.m.
· The Ranch Staff, Larimer County
Sheriff's Posse, Larimer Humane Society and CSU Ambulatory Vets will be
available to answer questions regarding logistics and operations.
They will also discuss follow-up items from the previous meeting.
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.poudre-fire.org
Firefighters have put in nearly 250,000 hours of work on this fire
(this translates into almost 18 years worth of hours), with only one
reported injury.
Fire Behavior:
Last night crews continued to patrol and mop up around structures
and unburned islands within the fire perimeter. Good progress is being
made as evidenced by fewer heat sources identified by infrared
imagery. Crews also continued firing operations along the west end of
Poudre Canyon Road (Highway 14) near Mount McConnel. Additional crews
continued burning out the area east of Pingree Park Road and north of
Old Flowers Road.
Work continues on the southeast flank, near Redstone Canyon. Today
crews will mop up and reinforce the line. On the north flank, the
containment line is almost complete. Crews have brought the fire down to
the intersection of Pingree Park Road and the Poudre Canyon Road
(Highway 14) and will continue to hold the line.
On the west side, crews have completed firing operations from the
junction of Highway 14 and Pingree Park Road south to Jack’s
Gulch. Crews will continue firing operations to bring the fire down to
Old Flowers Road. Burn operations are being conducted when weather
conditions are favorable. It allows firefighters to remove fuels between
established containment lines and the fire’s edge which lessens the
chance of the fire making a rapid push. On the southwest flank, crews
will work to improve Forest Road 100 which will be used as a contingency
line.
Weather:
A Red Flag Warning is in effect beginning at noon today and
ending Saturday evening. Throughout the morning winds will gradually
increase, becoming 15-25 mph gusting to 35. Temperatures will be 85 to
90 degrees with relative humidity of 10 to 15 percent. Fire activity is
expected to increase in the afternoon as the Red Flag Warning goes into
effect.
Structures Damaged:
The total of homes destroyed to date increased by two, for a total
of 191 homes. This increase is a result of locating homes that had not
previously been identified in the initial assessment. It is anticipated
that this number could go up once the final assessment is complete.
Officials are informing homeowners about fire damage as that
information becomes available and the priority will be getting this
information to residents first. As more assessments are made and
information becomes available, residents will be notified by subdivision
at the daily citizen briefings. Areas still evacuated are being
evaluated to determine when residents may re-enter. Factors being
considered before lifting an evacuation include fire activity, utility
repair, emergency traffic in the area, and road hazards such as falling
rocks and trees. Formal assessment of structures is a methodical
process and will continue for at least a couple of weeks. Some areas
are still inaccessible due to fire activity and road hazards.
Resident Information (Meetings, Evacuation Notices and Evacuation Lift Notices):
1. Daily citizen briefings will continue to be held at 3:00 p.m. at The Ranch
2. For residents who have
evacuated livestock and large animals that are currently housed at The
Ranch, there will be a follow-up meeting on Friday, June 22, 2012 at The Ranch inside of the Ranch-Way Feeds Indoor Arena in the grandstands. The meeting will be at 5:15 p.m.
· The Ranch Staff, Larimer County
Sheriff's Posse, Larimer Humane Society and CSU Ambulatory Vets will be
available to answer questions regarding logistics and operations.
They will also discuss follow-up items from the previous meeting.
3. Fire officials issued an
all-clear for Soldier Canyon and Mill Canyon Estates effective at 10 am
on June 20th. All residents are asked to remain on alert. If fire
conditions worsen, this area may be required to evacuate again. Power
has been restored to this area.
4. Fire officials also issued
an all-clear for the Hewlett Gulch area (effective at 12:15 p.m. June
20th) that is south and east of McNay Hill, south of County Road 74E,
which includes Hewlett Gulch Road, Deer Meadow Way, Gordon Creek Lane
and connecting roadways in that area. We are asking residents in this
area to please stay off roadways between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. when fire
crews are changing shifts so that roadways are open to allow for the
shift change to be completed. This evacuation lift does NOT include the 9th-12th Filings of Glacier View, which is still under a mandatory evacuation.
Ø Refrigerators and freezers coming to the landfill
need to be emptied of their contents (safety for the technician pumping
out the Freon). Freon containing appliances are stored until we get
enough to call the technician to pump the Freon (usually once a month).
Customers needing to dispose of this material can do this at the
landfill, but they need to do this process in a different area (animal
burial area) and then take the empty appliance to the appliance area.
Road Closure Information:
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 7 a.m. to 7 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.
Effective June 20, 2012: Eagle's Nest Open Space is OPEN as
is County Road 23 (aka Centennial Drive), on the east side of Horsetooth
Reservoir. This includes Sunrise Swim Beach and other day use areas on
the east side of Horsetooth Reservoir.
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 atwww.inciweb.org/incident/2904/.
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 atwww.inciweb.org/incident/2904/.
Find out if your loved ones are safe here (United Way Safe and Well Registry):
For the latest updated map of the High Park Fire, check out this link:
http://larimer.org/highparkfire/highpark_0622_0130.pdf
http://larimer.org/highparkfire/highpark_0622_0130.pdf
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 www.larimer.org
