LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. – As the Alexander Mountain Fire moved into day 5 and the weekend approached, officials in a Friday afternoon briefing urged citizens to follow fire restrictions as resources remain “stretched thin” and weather conditions ahead could spawn more fire growth.
“There is a lot of risk right now for new starts,” said Jason Sieg, Acting Force Supervisor of the Arapahoe and Roosevelt National Forests. “There’s possibility of lightning coming in the next few days. The resources we still have in the forest are available for the initial attack and initial response in the event that a fire does start,”
"We’ve had some difficult days this week," he continued. "A lot of communities (are) affected and these communities are going through hard times — whether it's the uncertainty around damage to property, being evacuated for multiple days or even the smoke impacts we're seeing in the communities — we're in it with you."
As of 5 p.m. Friday, Colorado’s largest wildfire had grown to 9,375 acres – up from 9,194 acres reported in a morning update.
The Alexander Mountain Fire remained at 5% containment.“I know that 5% containment may not sound like a lot but it doesn’t mean that we’re not having a lot of successes,” said Carl Schwope, Southwest Incident Commander during Friday’s briefing. “Firefighters are out there working hard on the east side we’re having a lot of successes and we’re expecting to show more containment – maybe here in the next few days,”
Schwope added there were 389 personnel battling the fire.
Around 70% of the fire spans across United States Forest Service land and the other 30% encompasses private lands. Seig, who grew up in Larimer County and started his career as a firefighter in these forests said the largest portion of his Forest Service personnel supporting wildfires in the West are working the Alexander Mountain Fire.
“We have over 100 employees supporting large fires across the West right now and about half of those employees are assigned to the Alexander Mountain Fire,” said Sieg.
Watch the full press conference from Friday afternoon below.
Earlier in the week, officials were worried about the fire spreading into the Cedar Park area and also jumping across Highway 34. Commander Schwope gave an update on those efforts
“Having some successes in and around Cedar Park, in and around the homes there, and along the 34 corridor we’re having some successes,” he said.
Jason Coil, operations section chief for the Southwest Area Incident Management Team added firefighters have had success curbing the fire’s spread near Highway 34 and expected to crews would “have more containment.”
Coil said the Alexander Mountain Fire’s spread has been curtailed by the Cameron Peak Burn scar.
“Yesterday I talked about the when the fire moves one mile into the Cameron Peak Fire scar, that would cause us to reevaluate whether that was an effective control feature, right now it looks like that is going to be an effective control feature,” said Coil. “Which is a big win because it gives us a large area that we don’t have to focus efforts on in the near future,”
Five days into the Alexander Fire, Schwope stressed conditions remain tough on fire crews.
“It doesn’t mean that we’re not without challenges. It’s still extremely hot, there’s still some very rough topography and fire is still in and amongst the homes and the threat of fire crossing Highway 34 is still very realistic,” he said.
While rain could bring some relief, he added that the threat of thunderstorms dropping “challenging winds” over the next few days was another concern.
Schwope urged fire-wary residents to remain on alert and to “respect closures and evacuations while the firefight is going on.”
On the heels of Governor Jared Polis’ order directing the Colorado National Guard to provide support to fire crews, Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen said guard members would be providing assistance at roadblocks starting Friday evening.
“Like the Forest Service, we are also stretched very thin. There’s a lot going on in Larimer County, the fair is going on, we have this big fire going on and you still depend on us for law enforcement protection in your communities,” he said.
While urging people check the Noco Alert website, Sheriff Feyen addressed the status of evacuation notices.
“The areas around County Road 27 that were voluntary, we’re lifting those restrictions and the areas around Carter Lake that were voluntary, we’re lifting those evacuation restrictions,” he said. “Moving a bit to the west, the first area in that was a mandatory is now a voluntary evacuation. As you go further west toward the mouth of the canyon, those are still mandatory.”
The map below details the current mandatory and voluntary evacuations and road closures.
Click here for a larger version and text LCEVAC to 888777 for the latest alerts.
Evacuation centers are set up at:
- Foundations Church, 1380 Denver Ave, Loveland
- Estes Park Events Complex, 1125 Rooftop Way, Estes Park
- Boulder County Fairgrounds, Exhibit Building, 9595 Nelson Rd, Longmont
As the weekend approaches, Sheriff Feyen reminded citizens of fire restrictions now in effect in Larimer County.
While not a burn ban, restricted are open fires, contained open fires which include camp or fires used to cook.
According to the county website, here’s what else is restricted:
- Smoking in the open, including on trails, parks and in outdoor open spaces
- Fireworks or fireworks displays
- Incendiary devices like sky lanterns, exploding ammunition, exploding targets and tracer ammunition
- Welding
Here’s what is allowed in Larimer County:
- Fireplaces or wood stoves in residences
- Gas fueled fires, including grills and camping stoves
“We talk about no open flames unless it’s propane or pressurized gas,” said Feyen. “If it’s got an on and off switch, that would be acceptable. If it doesn’t have an on and off switch then it’s prohibited in unincorporated parts of Larimer County.”
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Sheriff Feyen said damage assessment teams reached areas where structures were lost and – along with the Larimer County Office of Emergency Management would begin notifying residents who have lost homes or structures.
The sheriff’s office confirmed that two dozen structures damaged or destroyed were in the area of Palisade Mountain Drive and Snow Top Drive.
A breakdown of the damage included 25 homes destroyed, 4 homes damaged and 20 outbuildings destroyed.
The sheriff's office said it has not been able to contact all property owners with 'known and assessed damage to their property' including residents on these roads:
- Cedar Creek Road
- Spruce Mountain Drive
- Green Ridge Road
- Possum Court
- Palisade Mountain Drive
- Snow Top Drive
- Bobcat Drive
The Larimer County Sheriff's Office asked residents with property damage along these roads who have not received a call from Sheriff Feyen to call the Damage Assessment Center at 970-980-2800.
“We’re not out of the woods yet, but they’re making excellent work towards getting our folks back into homes,” he said
Wildfires are now a year-round threat in Colorado. Denver7 is committed to covering their impact and the people working to find solutions to the threat.