National park fire, More than 1,000 evacuation notices to people living near Estes Park were sent out Saturday morning because of the explosive growth of the Fern Lake Fire in Rocky Mountain National Park. Some of the evacuation notices were "be prepared to evacuate."
Evacuation Information, as of 2 p.m. today:
The Highway 66 corridor, including all adjacent streets, remains in evacuation.
Residents of High Drive and adjacent streets have been notified that they are now on pre-evacuation notice. The residents in this area may return home, presenting identification to law enforcement at the High Drive road block. No others will be allowed in the area.
Residents who were evacuated earlier today from the west side of Marys Lake Road and all adjacent streets are now allowed to return home and are on pre-evacuation notices. Access to the neighborhood is unrestricted.
Pre-evacuation means that residents should be prepared to evacuate at any moment.
The evacuations began at 1:50 a.m. at the Moraine Park campground, according to John Schultz with the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.
The fire was pushed by 75 mph winds, throwing embers a mile in front of the fire.
Schultz said 1,100 emergency notifications were sent out.
Frank Lancaster, town administrator, said evacuees will be out of their homes for at least 24 to 36 hours.
"The fire grew rapidly until about four this morning, the winds started laying down, we were able to get an upper hand on it, RMNP spokeswoman Traci Weaver said.
The fire has not crossed Bear Lake Road, officials said at a 10 a.m. fire update. One personal cabin has been lost in the fire and the owner has been notified.
About 60 firefighters were on the fire overnight. A Type 1 Incident Management Team -- the highest level available -- has been ordered to manage the firefighting effort.
"We have at least two hotshot crews coming, maybe four. Within 2 hours we should have two heavy tankers, coming In from southern California, Weaver said. "We are cautiously optimistic because we have been able to stop the fire -- its forward spread."
It was later learned the air tankers were grounded bybad visibility in California and were not on their way.
A Type 1 Skycrane helicopter has also been ordered for the fire.
Evacuees were told to go to Estes Park High School, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office. About 50 people were there as of 10 a.m., the American Red Cross reported.
Large animals may be taken to the Stanley Park fairgrounds.
The fire has been burning since Oct. 9. It has burned 1,515 acres in steep, rugged terrain that includes beetle-killed trees which has limited firefighters' ability to fight the fire from the ground, officials said.
The fire may have started from an escaped campfire, Weaver said Saturday. She added that the campfire would have been illegal.
At last report, the fire was 40 percent contained but Schultz said he expects that containment to have dropped.
Firefighters were moved off the fireline on Friday afternoon due to the risk of falling trees from high winds. Helicopters were also grounded on Friday because of the increased wind speed.
The winds were gusting at 74 mph at 3 a.m. in Larimer County said 24/7 Weather Meteorologist Maureen McCann. Conditions in the area have also been abnormally dry, she added.
The higher winds not only increased the main fire's behavior, the winds also started a spot fire in the southwest corner of the fire, west of the confluence of the Forest and Spruce Canyons.
Flying embers from that spot fire were creating additional spot fires on Friday.
About 60 personnel were assigned to the fire as of Friday afternoon. Officials said their objective was to keep the fire on the north side of the Spruce Creek Drainage and to suppress any spot fires that ignite to the south or east of the active fire area.
The fire is burning near Fern Lake, west of Moraine Park on western edge of Estes Park. The fire forced the closure of the following trails/areas:
The immediate area of western Moraine Park
Fern Lake Road beyond the winter parking lot
Fern Lake Trail all the way to Lake Helene (by The Pool, Fern Falls, Fern Lake, Odessa Lake to Helene)
The Cub Lake Trail from the trailhead to The Pool
The Mill Creek Trail from the Mill Creek Basin campsites to the Cub Lake Trail.
The east side of Rocky Mountain National Park is closed, although Fall River Visitor Center remains open from the west side.
Members of the public affected by the fire may call 970-498-5500 for recorded information on the fire.
"What we really need is snow. It would be great if we could get some good snowfall on this fire," Weaver said.
In response to the evacuations, The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services team will also be providing support for evacuees in Estes Park.
Evacuation Information, as of 2 p.m. today:
The Highway 66 corridor, including all adjacent streets, remains in evacuation.
Residents of High Drive and adjacent streets have been notified that they are now on pre-evacuation notice. The residents in this area may return home, presenting identification to law enforcement at the High Drive road block. No others will be allowed in the area.
Residents who were evacuated earlier today from the west side of Marys Lake Road and all adjacent streets are now allowed to return home and are on pre-evacuation notices. Access to the neighborhood is unrestricted.
Pre-evacuation means that residents should be prepared to evacuate at any moment.
The evacuations began at 1:50 a.m. at the Moraine Park campground, according to John Schultz with the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.
The fire was pushed by 75 mph winds, throwing embers a mile in front of the fire.
Schultz said 1,100 emergency notifications were sent out.
Frank Lancaster, town administrator, said evacuees will be out of their homes for at least 24 to 36 hours.
"The fire grew rapidly until about four this morning, the winds started laying down, we were able to get an upper hand on it, RMNP spokeswoman Traci Weaver said.
The fire has not crossed Bear Lake Road, officials said at a 10 a.m. fire update. One personal cabin has been lost in the fire and the owner has been notified.
About 60 firefighters were on the fire overnight. A Type 1 Incident Management Team -- the highest level available -- has been ordered to manage the firefighting effort.
"We have at least two hotshot crews coming, maybe four. Within 2 hours we should have two heavy tankers, coming In from southern California, Weaver said. "We are cautiously optimistic because we have been able to stop the fire -- its forward spread."
It was later learned the air tankers were grounded bybad visibility in California and were not on their way.
A Type 1 Skycrane helicopter has also been ordered for the fire.
Evacuees were told to go to Estes Park High School, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office. About 50 people were there as of 10 a.m., the American Red Cross reported.
Large animals may be taken to the Stanley Park fairgrounds.
The fire has been burning since Oct. 9. It has burned 1,515 acres in steep, rugged terrain that includes beetle-killed trees which has limited firefighters' ability to fight the fire from the ground, officials said.
The fire may have started from an escaped campfire, Weaver said Saturday. She added that the campfire would have been illegal.
At last report, the fire was 40 percent contained but Schultz said he expects that containment to have dropped.
Firefighters were moved off the fireline on Friday afternoon due to the risk of falling trees from high winds. Helicopters were also grounded on Friday because of the increased wind speed.
The winds were gusting at 74 mph at 3 a.m. in Larimer County said 24/7 Weather Meteorologist Maureen McCann. Conditions in the area have also been abnormally dry, she added.
The higher winds not only increased the main fire's behavior, the winds also started a spot fire in the southwest corner of the fire, west of the confluence of the Forest and Spruce Canyons.
Flying embers from that spot fire were creating additional spot fires on Friday.
About 60 personnel were assigned to the fire as of Friday afternoon. Officials said their objective was to keep the fire on the north side of the Spruce Creek Drainage and to suppress any spot fires that ignite to the south or east of the active fire area.
The fire is burning near Fern Lake, west of Moraine Park on western edge of Estes Park. The fire forced the closure of the following trails/areas:
The immediate area of western Moraine Park
Fern Lake Road beyond the winter parking lot
Fern Lake Trail all the way to Lake Helene (by The Pool, Fern Falls, Fern Lake, Odessa Lake to Helene)
The Cub Lake Trail from the trailhead to The Pool
The Mill Creek Trail from the Mill Creek Basin campsites to the Cub Lake Trail.
The east side of Rocky Mountain National Park is closed, although Fall River Visitor Center remains open from the west side.
Members of the public affected by the fire may call 970-498-5500 for recorded information on the fire.
"What we really need is snow. It would be great if we could get some good snowfall on this fire," Weaver said.
In response to the evacuations, The Salvation Army Emergency Disaster Services team will also be providing support for evacuees in Estes Park.
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