Information from the High Park Fire Public Information Officer
The
High Park Fire is estimated at 87,284 acres, meaning the fire has not grown
since June 27th. Containment is now estimated at 85 percent. The estimated
containment date has been moved up from July 15th to July 1st. The current cost
of the fire to date is estimated at 36.4 million dollars. There are 1,125
personnel
assigned to the firefighting effort.
Equipment resources include: 3 Type 1 hand crews, 9 Type 2 hand crews, 79
engines, 9 dozers and 12 water tenders. Air Resources
include;
1 Type I (heavy) helicopters, 1 Type II (medium) helicopters, 2 Type III (light)
helicopters, fixed wing support aircraft, and available heavy air
tankers.
It
should be noted that "containment" means that a containment line exists around
the fire, which fire managers believe will hold the fire within the perimeter.
"Control" means that the fire is actually out which, on a fire of this
magnitude, typically requires an act of nature such as prolonged rain or
snowfall. Islands of fire will continue to burn within the perimeter during the
containment phase and residents should expect to see smoke for days and weeks as
the fire moves from containment to control.
Current Situation:
On
all portions of the fire, line reinforcement, holding, mop-up and rehabilitation
continue. Operations personnel continue to secure the southwest portion of the
fire. Fire line rehabilitation continues in all areas. The
fire team has made many resources available for reassignment to other fires, but
is keeping crews and equipment to sustain effective suppression work across the
High Park Fire.
Planned Actions:
Line
reinforcement, holding, mop-up and structure protection to maintain existing
control efforts will continue. A Cobra heat-sensing helicopter will be working
over the fire beginning at 8:00 am to detect remaining heat sources, and to
guide firefighters to remaining heat pockets in the interior of the burn area.
Reintegration:
The
majority of evacuated residents have been allowed to return to their
neighborhoods. Fire officials will spend the next 24 hours assessing the
remaining evacuation zones to determine when they can be reopened. The following
areas are still closed to all traffic and under evacuation:
-
Areas accessed from Pingree Park Road (CR63E)
-
Areas accessed from Old Flowers Road (CR52E) west of the 8000 block
-
Areas accessed from Buckhorn Road (CR44H)
-
Areas accessed from Hwy 14 between Mishiwaka and Eggers
Fire
officials plan to allow residents to enter the 12th Filing of Glacier View at
noon today. These residents will need credentials, which can be picked up at the
roadblock on Eiger Road.
Drivers
should stay alert for frequent fire traffic, debris flows with ash from
thunderstorms, rocks that have rolled onto roads, and other distracted drivers.
Citizens should stay out of burnt timber. Fire-weakened trees can fall
unexpectedly and silently.
All
residents returning to their homes need to remain vigilant and consider
themselves in a pre-evacuation status until otherwise
notified.
Structures Damaged:
The
total number of homes destroyed to date has increased to 259. Two more homes
have been confirmed as lost. One was in Laurence Creek; the other in the Old
Flowers Road area (NOTE: this is a correction. These two additions were stated
as being in Glacier View at today's media briefing). These homes burned when the
fire was in the area several days ago, but were only verified during an
assessment of the area yesterday.
It
should be noted that the data of homes destroyed was developed during the
firefighting efforts. A formal assessment of homes and outbuildings in now
underway, and the total may change.
Weather:
Hot
and dry weather is expected to continue today with morning sun, southwest winds,
afternoon lightning and wind.
|
Resident Information (Meetings, Evacuation Notices and Evacuation Lift Notices):
Because
so many evacuees now have access to their homes, no further citizen briefings
are planned. Remaining evacuees are welcome to call the Fire Information line at
(970) 498-5500. They may also obtain information at www.larimer.org/emergency.
Media Briefing(s):
The
next media briefing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 30, 2012.
Briefings are held at the CSU Department of Atmospheric Science, located at 3915
W. Laporte Avenue in Fort Collins.
The
June 30th briefing will be the final media briefing. Media may continue to call
the Joint Information Center for information at 970-980-2501.
Road Closure Information:
The
Larimer County Sheriff's Office 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.
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
