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Cameron Peak Fire crews continued a one-two punch of aerial and ground work Tuesday and Wednesday in an effort to head off the fire's most active area southwest of Red Feather Lakes.
Of concern Wednesday is increasing west to northwest winds that could push what is called the "Thumb'' portion of the fire southwest of Red Feather Lakes south toward Colorado Highway 14, Cody Carlson, fire operations trainee said in the Wednesday morning video report.
The more than 100,000-acre wildfire has been burning west of Fort Collins since it ignited from a suspected human source on Aug. 13.
Cameron Peak Fire: How it burned 54 structures
Tuesday night, firefighters used heavy equipment to continue building fire line near the 517 road on the fire's active north flank of the "Thumb.''
Additional resources arrived, including two additional hotshot crews that are building direct line on the northern portion of the “Thumb,” where the fire has come within 7 miles of Red Feather Lakes and Crystal Lakes, both of which are under mandatory evacuation.
Structure protection groups and surge forces will continue to work those areas.
Tuesday evening, a helicopter dropped ping-pong-like balls filled with flammables to ignite fires on a slope south of Colorado Highway 14 in the Glen Echo area. The fire then burned back toward the highway where firefighters were on hand to extinguish the flames. This burnout serves as a barrier by eliminating fuel the fire needs to reach the highway.
Fire numbers
The fire grew by 122 acres Tuesday and now stands at 104,652 acres. It is the fourth-largest wildfire in Colorado history. The 2018 Spring Creek Fire is third at 108,045 acres.
Containment grew to 17% containment, up from 15% on Tuesday. That containment came on the fire's southeast edge from the Buckhorn Road west to the Pingree Park Road, just north of the Colorado State University Mountain Campus.
There are 835 personnel assigned to the fire.
Video: Cameron Peak Fire up close
Weather outlook
The temperature for the next few days will hover in mid-60s with relative humidity in the teens before turning cloudy and a little cooler with a chance of showers and storms with gusty outflow winds by the weekend.
Evacuation update
The voluntary evacuation for the area south of Colorado 14 along Larimer County Road 27 south to Larimer County Road 44H and west to Pennock Pass has been lifted.
Air quality
Wildfire smoke from the Cameron Peak, Middle Fork Fire north of Steamboat Springs and Mullen fire in southern Wyoming is expected to increase across the northern Front Range early Wednesday, according to the Colorado Department of Health and Environment's daily air quality report.
Fine particulate concentrations could impact those in the sensitive groups category in Larimer and Weld counties, with smoke spreading south toward Denver later Wednesday morning into the afternoon.
Fore more information about the fire, visit inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6964/
Smoke map: Track smoke from Western wildfires at Coloradoan.com
Reporter Miles Blumhardt looks for stories that impact your life. Be it news, outdoors, sports — you name it, he wants to report it. Have a story idea? Contact him at milesblumhardt@coloradoan.com or on Twitter @MilesBlumhardt. Support his work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
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Cameron Peak Fire crews wary of westerly winds pushing blaze toward Colorado 14 - Coloradoan
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