Official Thread for all 2020 Colorado Fire Season Topics (Grand Junction, Steamboat Springs: assessment, stats)

[DOUBLE H]

Originally Posted by coschristi

I came back into Denver from Glenwood on the Amtrak on the 5th & I was horrified by the dead vegetation in the canyon. I literally spent hours thinking that the area was prime for a really bad fire.

In weather terms they would call it "pyro cumulus" (fire cloud).

Up until a couple days ago the Pine Gulch fire was heading northeast and with the wind shifting and now has shifted toward the southwest. Last night around 10 p.m. I went up I-70 to the Port Of Entry truck scales and took a look at this thing. Ugly.

Somewhere out there was a wise old sage that quoted on this message board this one sentence--"Mother Nature bats last."

It looks like the Pine Gulch fire is creating its own weather system now. Dry air (5% humidity for days), hot temperatures (100 plus for a while now) and ground that crunches while one walks is a perfect combination. Toss in a condition of the atmosphere getting unstable and the result is dry lightning. and the result was another smallish fire (100 acres) crossed the control line at Mud Creek.

[Brill]

It's pouring in colorado springs right now, can we send this your way?

[eofelis]

Originally Posted by DOUBLE H

In weather terms they would call it "pyro cumulus" (fire cloud).

Up until a couple days ago the Pine Gulch fire was heading northeast and with the wind shifting and now has shifted toward the southwest. Last night around 10 p.m. I went up I-70 to the Port Of Entry truck scales and took a look at this thing. Ugly.

Somewhere out there was a wise old sage that quoted on this message board this one sentence--"Mother Nature bats last."

It looks like the Pine Gulch fire is creating its own weather system now. Dry air (5% humidity for days), hot temperatures (100 plus for a while now) and ground that crunches while one walks is a perfect combination. Toss in a condition of the atmosphere getting unstable and the result is dry lightning. and the result was another smallish fire (100 acres) crossed the control line at Mud Creek.

They say potential for another overnight of possible (dry) thunderstorms in the Pine Gulch Fire area, like last night. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes over 140,000 acres by tomorrow, making it the largest fire in CO history. (Hayman Fire, largest, was 136,000 acres). This will go on for weeks.

[bluescreen73]

Originally Posted by eofelis

They say potential for another overnight of possible (dry) thunderstorms in the Pine Gulch Fire area, like last night. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes over 140,000 acres by tomorrow, making it the largest fire in CO history. (Hayman Fire, largest, was 136,000 acres). This will go on for weeks.

Sadly I wouldn't be surprised if the Pine Gulch Fire burns a quarter million acres or more before it's out, and I fear that the Grizzly Creek Fire is gonna burn down and through Dotsero and Wolcott before it's all said and done.

[COcheesehead]

I saw the Hayman fire on the front range and now the Pine Gulch on the Western Slope. The two largest fires in Colorado history. That’s enough for me for awhile.

[Vision67]

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — New images from the U.S. Forest Service show just how close the Grizzly Creek Fire burning east of Glenwood Springs got to the iconic Hanging Lake.

Crews flew over the area Wednesday night and snapped some pictures which show that the fire burned above the lake.

Officials said they know the fire burned through some of the lower portion of the trail that goes up to Hanging Lake, but they haven't been able to assess how much it was impacted.

https://www.9news.com/article/news/l...a-20a23c65d1c4

[DOUBLE H]

Pine Gulch Fire is at 17% containment, according to KKCO-11 News. 122,550 acres burned.

[jim9251]

Pine Gulch Fire near Grand Junction 121,195 acres 2nd largest wildfire in Colorado history 911 personnel 19% contained

Evacuations: Garfield County: 4A Ridge Road (256), Salt Wash (205), King Road (258), Clear Creek Road (211), Carr Creek Road (207), Kimball Creek Road (202). A pre-evacuation order is in effect for all residents of Garfield County west of CO-139 to the Utah border, and any formerly evacuated residents remain in pre-evacuation.

For more information: www.garfieldcounty.net.

There are currently no pre-evacuations or evacuations in Mesa County: www.sheriff.mesacounty.us/FireInformation.

Closures: Roan Creek Road (204) at North Dry Fork (200) road has a staffed closure. Due to increased fire activity north of Fruita, several other roads have been closed. These include 21 Road north of the BLM boundary, 16 Road at V 8/10 Road, and the Q 5/10 Road is closed at 18 Road CO-139 Douglas Pass north of Loma from mile marker 6 to mile marker 39.

BLM has issued an area closure north of Loma, Fruita, Grand Junction, and Palisade. Additional information available here: www.tinyurl.com/PineGulchBLM

Both Mesa County and Garfield County have entered Stage 2 Fire Restrictions. BLM lands within the Grand Junction Field Office are also under Stage 2 Restrictions.

Grizzly Creek Fire 29,992 acres 889 personnel 11% contained

Evacuations: Please go to Garfield County website at www.Garfield-county.com and Eagle County at Eagle County Public Safety Information, as well as on official Facebook. accounts.

Road Closures:

I-70 continues to be closed between Glenwood Springs (MP 116) and Gypsum (MP 133), with no estimated time for reopening. Forest Service Road 400, Eagle-Thomasville Road, is closed due to excessive traffic and accidents resulting from drivers attempting to use this primarily dirt road as an alternate to the I-70 closure. Cottonwood Pass Road in Garfield and Eagle counties. Coffee Pot Road, and Transfer Trail roads and areas of the Flattops accessed by those roads are also closed, as well as many surrounding White River National Forest and BLM roads. For more information regarding road closures: www.cotrip.org

Area Closures: BLM recreation sites and boat ramps on the southern portion of the Colorado River Road (RD 301) near Dotsero, Colorado. Specifically, Cottonwood Landing boat ramp, Lyons campground and boat ramp, and Dotsero boat ramp.

Fire Restrictions: Stage 2 Fire Restrictions are in place for all jurisdictions. https://colorado.gov/pacific/dfpc/fi...on-information

A temporary flight restriction is in place over the fire area. If you fly, we can’t Know Before You Fly

Williams Fork Fire near Frasier 10,434 acres 264 personnel 3% contained

The Grand Co. Sherriff’s Office encourages residents interested in receiving emergency notification to sign up for CodeRed alerts.

The Forests also implemented a Forest Closure Order that affects roads, recreation areas, trailheads and campgrounds.

Road Closures: CR 3, CR 30, CR 50 starting @ Young Life, FSR 133, 139, all of “Church Park”

Rec Areas: Fraser Experimental Forest, Byers Peak Wilderness, Vasquez Creek Wilderness, Vasquez Rd & St. Louis Creek Trail System

Trailheads: Lower Creekside, St. Louis Creek, Leland Creek, St. Louis Lake, Byers Peak, Deadhorse, South Fork, Williams Fork, Darling Creek, Ute Peak, Lake Evelyn, Kinney Creek, Vasquez Peak, Keyser Ridge, Jones Pass, Elk Meadows, Mt. Nystrom, Boardwalk, and Twin Bridges

Campgrounds: South Fork, Sugarloaf, Horseshoe, and St. Louis Creek

Cameron Peak Fire near Red Feather Lakes 17,246 acres 674 personnel 0% contained

Mill Creek Fire near Gunnidon 5 acres 31 personnel 0% contained

BURN BAN in effect for national forests and state parks, red flag fire warnings and air quality warnings for smoke in effect for all of the western slope.

[Vision67]

Grizzly Creek fire increases flood risk in Glenwood Canyon

https://gazette.com/news/grizzly-cre...ff474b98a.html

"GARFIELD COUNTY — The Grizzly Creek fire scorched the walls of Glenwood Canyon, creating a flood risk experts are already assessing as almost 900 firefighters continue battling to control the 30,000-acre blaze.

Wind and steep terrain fueled the human-caused fire that broke out on Aug. 10 along Interstate 70, shutting down the highway and scorching vegetation that held the sides of the canyon in place above it. When soils are baked in a wildfire they can lose the ability to absorb water, increasing the risk of flooding when heavy rains return, said Mike Ferris, National Interagency Fire Center spokesman.

"There were areas where the fire charged out of the canyon and got hot," he said Friday.

Flames came close to the Hanging Lake welcome center, burning picnic areas, landscaping and a hillside, but sparing the building and the lake itself. A private cabin and two outbuildings have been the only casualties in the fire so far. The exact cause of the fire is under investigation.

Fire crews faced exceedingly steep terrain in Glenwood Canyon and surrounding drainages and crews waited for it to burn up to ridgelines to try to catch it. The fire also jumped the Colorado River, further complicating the fight, Ferris said.

"We wouldn’t send anybody into these canyons. .... It’s just not realistic," Ferris said.

However, some portions of the canyon were spared from the blaze and swaths of green vegetation remain. On Friday afternoon, only smoke burning from a few hotspots was rising within the canyon.

Following several days of calmer winds and rain on Thursday, the fire behavior had moderated Friday and firefighters were digging lines by hand and with bulldozers to contain it, fire officials said. The fire was 30% contained Saturday.

"Air tankers may take the heat and intensity out of the fire, you still got to have somebody on the ground," Ferris said.

Some of the work is focused on protecting the watersheds that serve Glenwood Springs, Ferris said. Limiting the burn scar near No Name and Grizzly creeks will help limit the sedimentation that flows into the town's water supply, he said.

A Burned Area Emergency Response team has started assessing the canyon to determine how hot the soils burned, the risk of flooding and debris flows, and to create a mitigation plan, Ferris said. The team has already done flyovers to assess the damage, but their findings are not public yet, he said.

Boulders have already fallen from the canyon walls showing the potential risk for water to further destabilize the area.

The National Weather Service is expecting monsoonal moisture to move into Colorado in the next week bringing with it increased chances for cloud cover and increased humidity that could help fight fires and also a risk of flooding, said Dennis Phillips, a meteorologist with the agency in Grand Junction.

"Any rainfall is dangerous," he said."

[waltcolorado]

Thorp fire near Tarryall in Park County

https://parkco.us/AlertCenter.aspx?CID=Wild-Fires-1