Morning Update for the High Park Fire - 062312

Morning Update for the High Park Fire 6/23/12 @ 10:30 a.m.

The High Park Fire is estimated at 75,537 acres with 45% containment. The current cost of the fire to date is estimated at $25.5 million dollars. There are 1879 fire personnel and that number will increase as additional resources arrive today. In addition there are 13 Type 1 hand crews, 22 Type 2 hand crews, 135 engines, 11 dozers and 27 water tenders. Air Resources include 6 Type 1 helicopters, 3 Type 2 helicopters, 6 Type 3 helicopters, 5 heavy air tankers, and fixed wing support aircraft.

Additional emergency evacuations were ordered to include all residents of filings 1 through 8 in Glacier View, homes north of County Rd 74E to include Green Mountain Dr., Mount Axtell Dr., Mount Moriah Rd., Mount Simon Dr. and all connecting roadways in that area. An additional evacuation was issued along Highway 14 from Hewlett Rd. and Wild River Rd., east on Hwy 14 to include Falls Creek Dr, all of Poudre Park, Wonderful Place, Ray Shoal Lane and east to Manners Lane. This includes all homes addressed on the north and south sides of Hwy 14 between Hewlett Rd and Manners Ln. Fire officials also included an emergency evacuation order for residents along County Road 74E from Hewlett Gulch Road east to County Road 37. Residents should evacuate to Cache La Poudre middle school at 3515 W. CR54G in Laporte. This is a total of 998 emergency evacuation notifications sent out yesterday.

Fire officials have ordered a pre-evacuation notice to Bonner Peak Subdivision, including Springs Ranch Rd. The pre-evacuation is also for County Road 74E from the junction of Hwy 287, west to include County Road 37, north to include County Road 76H, east to Hwy 287 and south to County Road 74E. This is a pre-evacuation. All residents need to be prepared to evacuate at a moment's notice. There were 235 notifications made on this pre-evacuation order.

Residents of Red Feather Lakes and Crystal Lakes are asked to use Cherokee Park Road (CR 80C) to access their residences as County Road 74E is closed at Mile Marker 1. However, residents can go south on Boy Scout Ranch Road to Hwy. 14 and go west on Hwy 14.

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.poudrecanyonfpd.org (Website is temporarily unavailable.) Contributions may be made to Cache La Poudre Fire & Emergency Group, P.O. Box 952, Laporte, CO 80535

Fire Behavior:
Yesterday afternoon the fire spotted across Highway 14 near Sheep Mountain in steep, rugged terrain. With hot, dry conditions and wind gusts to 35 mph, the spots became established in dry fuels and made an aggressive push to the northeast. Structure protection resources activated sprinklers before being forced to move back to a safe area due to fire intensity. All available resources were shifted to the area north of Poudre Canyon to assist with fire suppression efforts. Last night, with the assistance of heavy equipment and existing roads, crews were able to line the fire area on the north tying it into the Hewlett Fire on the east. Today crews will work to strengthen this north line while also securing the east and south sides of the fire area north of Highway 14.

Around the main fire perimeter, south of Poudre Canyon, crews will continue to secure containment lines on the southeast and west flanks. Structure protection resources will continue to work the unburned islands within the interior looking for and extinguishing any hotspots that are found. Heavy air tankers and helicopters began working at 8:00 this morning in support of ground crews.
Field assessments are being conducted to determine the extent of fire spread, values at risk, and appropriate actions. A Red Flag Warning has been issued from 1200 (noon) Friday, June 22nd through 8:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 23rd. Fire has become established north of the Poudre River and is spreading to the east. Large, unburned interior islands continue to pose threats to homes on the interior of the fire.

The fire continues to spread west into steep, inaccessible areas with beetle killed timber on the west and northwest portions of the fire. A long term planning group is continuing to assess and develop contingencies and maps for this area. The burn area is located within a watershed that supplies several municipalities. Potential long term impacts from the fire include evacuations, security needs, air quality, and recreation use.

Weather:
A Red Flag Warning began at noon yesterday, ending Saturday evening. Fire activity is expected to increase during the Red Flag Warning. Throughout the morning winds will gradually increase, becoming 15-25 mph gusting to 35. Temperatures will be 82 to 94 degrees with relative humidity of 3 to 7 percent. The Haines Index, which measures the stability and dryness of air over a fire, is 6. This indicates that there is a high potential for extreme fire behavior, intensity, and growth.

Structures Damaged:
The total of homes destroyed to date is 191. An unconfirmed preliminary report indicates that 4 to 10 more structures may be destroyed with the increase in fire activity. The number of structures and outbuildings reported lost may increase as official verifications and confirmations are completed.

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. 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):
The daily citizen briefing has been changed to 5:00 p.m. at The Ranch at I-25 and Crossroads Blvd.

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:

•Photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/conationalguard/sets/72157630072014657/

•Video http://www.dvidshub.net/tags/video/high-park-fires#.T-IU7hfDf3R

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. However, beginning Monday, June 25th, the center will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday; Saturday and Sunday hours will remain the same. For more information, please visit their website at http://www.safety.colostate.edu.
There will be a 4:00 p.m. media briefing at the Atmospheric Science building, 3915 W. Laporte Avenue in Fort Collins.

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 (United Way Safe and Well Registry):
https://safeandwell.communityos.org/cms/index.php

For the latest updated map of the High Park Fire, check out this link:
http://larimer.org/highparkfire/highpark_0622_2236.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