FORT COLLINS, Colo. (Oct. 20, 2020) – Due to unprecedented and historic fire conditions, the USDA Forest Service’s Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests is announcing a temporary closure of all National Forest land in Clear Creek, Jefferson, Gilpin, Boulder, and Larimer counties, effective at midnight tonight (closure begins at 00:01 Oct. 21). This decision will be re-evaluated daily as conditions change.
The new starts and explosive growth of fires throughout the northern Colorado Front Range over the past week, including the Cameron Peak, CalWood and Lefthand Canyon fires, has led to this decision. The impacted counties are currently experiencing severe drought, extremely low fuel moisture conditions, a high occurrence of human-caused wildfires, limited capacity for response due to multiple wildfires, and persistent fire-danger weather conditions with no immediate relief in the forecast.
“The number of large fires and extreme fire behavior we are seeing on our Forests this year is historic,” said Forest Supervisor Monte Williams. “These temporary closures are necessary to protect the public and our firefighters, and we will keep them in place until conditions improve and we are confident that the risk of new fire starts has decreased. I ask all of our local residents and visitors to take these closures and evacuations seriously to allow our firefighters to focus on the mission of safely suppressing the existing fires.”
AS OF TUESDAY MORNING nearly 442,000 acres of land are currently affected by wildfire across north central Colorado and southern Wyoming, according to the Rocky Mountain Coordination Center. About 3,000 firefighters and fire support personnel are assigned to wildfire operations in the region.
These temporary closures are in place to support the suppression of the three fires currently burning in these counties and to prevent the potential for new fire starts, which impacts the resources available for existing fires. Orders restrict access to all but emergency personnel and persons with a permit authorizing their presence in the closure areas. Drivers authorized to be in the forest are urged to use caution, as many forest roads may be busy with firefighters, fire vehicles, and heavy equipment engaged in suppression and containment efforts.
Areas not included in this closure order have existing fire restrictions in place, including campfire bans, due to high and extreme fire danger levels.
Citizens or travelers with specific questions within their area may call local ranger district offices for more information. Information about campgrounds — whether they are open, closed for the season or closed because of fires, can be accessed here.
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Got to this clicking around upper left pull down but not in body of newsletter
1220 hrs MST
Spoke to my son this Saturday evening from his motel room in Ft. Collins. He’s one of the mandatory evacuees from the Cameron Peak fire. Numerous check-points are controlling access to the fire areas; fire-fighting vehicles and heavy equipment choke the roads at staging and control sites, including the access drive to my son’s Buckhorn Canyon home which was surrounded by wind-driven fire within a few hundred yards on three sides but was spared.*
A neighbor who drove in a back way to drain their home’s water pipes (sub-zero temperatures and heavy snow are forecast now for the area) also drove up an old fire break road to check my son’s place and bring back photos to assess possible damage.
(*) His cabin, workshop, and an old Toyota RV he moved into the center clearing to spare it from flames… all are covered in orange borate residue. Fire retardant bomber drops protected the area while firefighters staging from there fought up and down the Buckhorn Canyon road.
The Troublesome Creek Fire jumped from 19,000 acres to 170,000 acres in 24 hours last week to become Colorado’s second largest fire ever. The southern half of Rocky Mountain NP is either already burning or directly in that fire’s path. At the same time, Colorado’s largest ever wildfire, Cameron Peak, has burned into the northern portion of RMNP. In the past few days, Grand Lake, Estes Park, and Granby have all had mandatory evacuations. Because of active burning and dense smoke, authorities still don’t know how many homes have burned in Grand Lake. We’ll have to wait and see if today’s snow helps to slow down the fires’ spread.