Warm, windy weather was on the side of the Cameron Peak Fire on Saturday, as it continued to grow and scorch more acreage in the Roosevelt National Forest.
The fire started Thursday afternoon in the area of Chambers Lake, which is located roughly 40 miles due west of Fort Collins and about 25 miles southeast of Walden. By Saturday morning, the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Blue Team reported it had burned 5,424 acres.
On a 5 p.m. Facebook Live broadcast, team officials reported that rugged terrain and unfavorable weather had made fighting the fire difficult, and they said the fire had gained ground to the north and east.
Team meteorologist Darren Clabo called Saturday’s weather “exceptionally dry,” and predicted the fire would grow over the next two days.
“We’re expecting similar conditions to what we saw today,” he said. “I wouldn’t say critical fire weather conditions, but definitely conditions that will be allowing that fire to get bigger and grow across the landscape.”
He said the next chance of rainfall would be Tuesday or Wednesday.
Operation section chief Paul Hohn said the fire is now “securely invested” on the south side of Colo. 14 as well as to the north in the Chambers Lake area.
He compared the speed of the fire’s spread to that of the 2012 High Park Fire that burned more than 87,000 acres over three weeks.
“This will be a long duration fire,” he said.
About 120 people are involved in the firefighting effort, supported by five helicopters, which have been used to perform strategic water drops, as well as two helitack teams.
Colo. 14 remains closed between the communities of Rustic and Gould, along with much of the roads, trails and other recreation resources surrounding the fire.
Larimer County Sheriff’s Office spokesman David Moore has also shared resources for those displaced by the fire:
- Those who have been evacuated and are seeking shelter should call the county at 970-498-7120.
- For help evacuating large animals, call Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Troy Badberg at 970-443-3231.
- For help evacuating small animals, call the Larimer Humane Society at 970-226-3647, ext. 7.
He also encouraged area residents to sign up to receive updates on their phones by texting LCEVAC to 888777.
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August 16, 2020 at 09:55AM
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Officials: Cameron Peak Fire at more than 5,400 acres, expected to grow in coming days - Loveland Reporter-Herald
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