Containment of the Cameron Peak Fire grew to 27% on Wednesday, up from 17% the day before, but fire managers warned that Thursday and Friday are likely to be challenging for firefighters due to expected winds.
“We are in for a couple of hard days,” incident commander Dave Gesser said in a Wednesday evening Facebook Live talk.
Wind out of the west and gusts up to 30 mph are expected Friday, fire planning operations trainee Cory Carlson said.
Gesser said crews have done a lot of work with air tankers, very large air tankers known as VLATs, single-engine aircraft and helicopters, and beefed up night operations to prepare.
At night they can work in cooler temperatures with less wind.
On Wednesday additional resources arrived, including two additional hotshot crews who are building direct line on the northern portion of the “thumb.”
Carlson said the areas considered contained are along the east edge of the fire area and at the southwest edge.
He said the section of fire in northern Rocky Mountain National Park looked good, and east of the park a structure protection plan has been completed for Estes Park, Glen Haven, The Retreat and Storm Mountain.
He said the plan should prove valuable for that area for years to come if other fires occur there.
Carlson said crews were focused on the northern thumb, which is about two to three miles southwest of Red Feather Lakes, hoping to prevent the fire from moving that direction to keep the Red Feather and Crystal Lake areas out of play.
Managers said weather conditions this week continue to present hazardous conditions because of potential outflow winds in the afternoon.
Temperatures in the fire area for the rest of the week are expected to be in the mid-60s with humidity in the teens, turning cloudy and a little cooler with a chance of showers and storms with gusty outflow winds.
Capt. Joe Shellhammer of the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office also spoke on Facebook Live, saying about 10,000 homes in the fire area have been evacuated with no injuries or deaths to civilians, and numerous dogs, horses and other animals have been removed from the area as well.
He said officials hope to be able to get people back to their homes as soon as possible.
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September 24, 2020 at 10:36AM
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Cameron Peak Fire reaches 27% containment - Loveland Reporter-Herald
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