The Cameron Peak Fire has reached its largest containment percentage since starting by presumed human causes over 80 days ago. Along with this, fire officials have lifted all evacuation orders for all of Larimer County.
The fire, which grew by a few hundred acres into Monday and reached 208,913 acres, is now standing at 85% containment, with containment lines showing along most of the fire. The area still not showing containment is the south center perimeter around the Pingree Park area.
Operations section chief Kyle Cannon said during a Monday morning update that over the last 24 hours, the drying and melting of snow on the fire has allowed crews to get into areas like Storm Mountain to increase containment lines.
“We have had firefighters and leadership on the ground along that fire edge, and all of that is looking pretty darn solid,” Cannon said. He added that while there is still some heat and smoke coming from the area, experts on the ground have said they do not believe the fire is threatening the containment lines that have been set.
Cannon said that, at this point, a main concern for crews is the North Fork Trail slop-over, sitting southeast of Pingree Park . He said there is still a lot of snow in the area and remains very difficult to access along the wilderness. Crews will be working in as they are able over the next few days.
Crews are also still seeing smoke and heat coming from the Pingree Park area, which sits in the middle of the perimeter that has not been contained. Crews will continue to mop up and monitor the area for the best ways to get line down.
However, along the Buckhorn Road all the way to the north end of the fire, Cannon said, is looking good and has strong containment all along it.
“Things are looking good and our focus on that whole northern portion of Cameron Peak is towards repair,” Cannon said.
Video footage of what crews are doing, including drone footage, can be found on the Cameron Peak Fire YouTube page.
Over the weekend, the Thompson Zone of the East Troublesome Fire also saw it’s first jump in containment, moving from the 0% it has sat at since starting to 31%.
Cannon said the area, much like Cameron Peak, is looking good and crews have and will continue working in along the fire line and securing the edge to make sure no heat threatens the line.
Larimer County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Joe Shellhammer said that, with the weekend showing success the way it did and the fire remaining fairly still despite high winds, discussions will be had in the morning about any evacuation changes in the Storm Mountain, Cedar Park and Glen Haven areas despite the potential danger of the North Fork Trail slop-over.
“Even though we have this threat off to the west, we are feeling a little bit better about it,” Shellhammer said. “We still have to pay attention in those areas if we do lift things.”
Shellhammer also said evacuation teams are discussing getting residents back into the west side of Estes Park, but will have to continue to monitor the Thompson Zone. He added that, as people potentially get back into the area, they must remain vigilant to fire activity.
“You need to pay attention,” Shellhammer said. “I wouldn’t bring back your RV that doesn’t run very well or your horse trailer that gets flat tires all the time. I would give this a little more time before you bring all that stuff back, but we will get you back into your homes and be able to start getting back to normal.”
A few hours after the morning update, the Sheriff’s Office announced that fire officials have lifted all mandatory and voluntary evacuations in Larimer County for both the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires. All residents and business occupants who were under evacuation for either fire can now return to their homes and businesses with no restrictions.
Shellhammer added during the morning update the work over the weekend and where teams are at now are a positive outlook.
“We are moving in the right direction pretty much everywhere on the map, which is just amazing,” Shellhammer said. “That goes to the work ethic of this team and the teams before them. They got on it this weekend.”
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November 03, 2020 at 01:00AM
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UPDATE: Cameron Peak Fire containment leaps to 85%, all Larimer County evacuations lifted - Loveland Reporter-Herald
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