What we know Wednesday: 9 new evacuation orders as Cameron Peak Fire explodes
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The Cameron Peak Fire has closed in on Fort Collins' western doorstep.
Now into its second month of burning the mountains west of the city, the fire flared again Wednesday, threatening scores of mountain homes and sending a massive column of smoke above Colorado's northern Front Range.
Nine new evacuation orders have been implemented in the last 24 hours as firefighters and emergency responders sought to keep mountain residents and businesses safe from the fire's most significant spread in weeks.
By 4:20 p.m., the fire had crossed Stove Prairie Road (Larimer County Road 27) near Buckhorn Canyon Road (County Road 44H), the U.S. Forest Service's Canyon Lakes Ranger District reported on Twitter. Officials weren't able to say how far across Stove Prairie Road the fire had moved, they said.
"Some structures have been impacted today," the tweet said.
An update on Twitter at 5:30 p.m. said firefighters had been able to "slow the spread of the fire east of CR27 (Stove Prairie Road). CR27 is holding at this time."
The fire, listed at 135,556 acres early Wednesday and rapidly growing from that figure, shot east of the Colorado State University Mountain Campus into the mountainous area northwest of Glen Haven. By noon, firefighters reported that the fire was "well established" atop the 11,000-foot Signal Mountain.
By 2:30 p.m., the Larimer County Sheriff's Office had made its fifth mandatory evacuation order in the last 24 hours, ordering people out of Horsetooth Mountain Park, Bobcat Ridge Natural Area, Masonville, Overhill Drive, and all of Rist Canyon including Stratton Park.
Shortly after 3 p.m., a voluntary evacuation order was issued for Lory State Park west of Fort Collins. At 4:13 p.m., the evacuation was upgraded to a mandatory order. Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials decided to evacuate the park shortly thereafter, and said that at midday there were only four to five vehicles in the park.
Firefighters relocated resources to Stove Prairie Road mid-day Wednesday, and by 2:30 p.m. many firefighters were watching, waiting and planning from Stove Prairie Elementary School as the blaze continued its eastward push.
Farther south, the Big Thompson Canyon communities of Drake and Glen Haven were placed on evacuation orders, bringing the impact of fire-related closures to Loveland's western doorstep.
Earlier Wednesday, overnight wind gusts of up to 60 mph over the fire prompted mandatory evacuations east to Masonville as fire crews cleared people from the foothills immediately west of Fort Collins and Loveland.
Masonville is located about 30 miles southeast of the Colorado State University Mountain Campus, where firefighters entered Wednesday in an ongoing battle to save structures. Masonville is located about 12 miles southwest of Fort Collins.
Here's what we know about the rapidly evolving Cameron Peak Fire:
Cameron Peak Fire evacuation update
Evacuation orders issued overnight Tuesday into Wednesday:
- 8 p.m. Tuesday: Mandatory evacuation for Larimer County Road 44H from Pennock Pass to Larimer County Road 27.
- 3:30 a.m. Wednesday: Mandatory evacuation order for Buckhorn Road (Larimer County Road 27) from Larimer County Road 44H south to Masonville.
- 8:48 a.m. Wednesday: Upgraded from voluntary to mandatory the evacuation order for Glen Haven, Glen Haven Retreat, Storm Mountain, Palisade Mountain and Larirmer County Road 43 from Streamside to Storm Mountain Road.
- 9 a.m. Wednesday: Mandatory evacuations for Otter Road (Buckskin Heights) and Larimer County Road 52E from Larimer County Road 27 east to include Larimer County Road 41 and Stratton Park.
- 2:08 p.m. Wednesday: Upgraded from voluntary to mandatory the evacuation of Redstone Canyon.
- 2:30 p.m. Wednesday: Mandatory evacuation order for Horsetooth Mountain Park, Bobcat Ridge Natural Area, Masonville, Overhill Drive, and all of Rist Canyon including Stratton Park.
- 2:45 p.m. Wednesday: Voluntary evacuation for U.S. Highway 34 (Big Thompson Canyon) from Drake to just west of the Dam Store, 9 miles west of downtown Loveland.
- 4:13 p.m. Wednesday: Upgraded from voluntary to mandatory the evacuation of Lory State Park west of Fort Collins. Park officials had issued a voluntary evacuation advisory at 3:09 p.m.
A Joint Information Center is open and can be reached at 970-980-2500, while the American Red Cross opened an evacuation site at the Embassy Suites, 4705 Clydesdale Pkwy., in Loveland. Information Center staff can answer questions regarding evacuations, road closures, accessing property, credentials, and large and small animal sheltering. Those in need of Red Cross shelter assistance can call 970-481-1243 or 970-324-3211.
Anyone seeking to offer assistance for those evacuating large animals should call the Joint Information Center. Their message will be shared with the Larimer County Sheriff's Office Posse.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife is also offering several areas to evacuated ranchers for temporary livestock and trailer relocation. Call 90-472-4300 for more information.
New closures, cancellations
Larimer County has closed the popular Horsetooth Mountain Open Space, including the Horsetooth Mountain and Soderberg trailheads, to public access until further notice, the county's department of natural resources said.
The city of Fort Collins closed the Farm at Lee Martinez Park and canceled all outdoor recreation activities scheduled Wednesday because of smoke from the fire. Colorado State University's football team canceled its morning practice because of poor air quality, coach Steve Addazio said in a conference call with reporters.
Poudre School District kept elementary school children receiving in-person instruction inside Wednesday, and said it would monitor air quality to make determinations about future decisions to keep students indoors or in remote learning.
Fire weather outlook
National Weather Service radar imagery shows the fire's intensity flared up about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday. GSI imagery shows the fire was especially hot in the Colorado State University Mountain Campus and Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp area. NWS said wind gusts of up to 80 mph could take place over the fire area Wednesday morning.
Tim Daly, a fire operations planning trainee, said Wednesday that strong winds overnight pushed the fire east across Pingree Park Road and chased fire crews from the Colorado State University Mountain Campus and Sky Ranch Lutheran Camp, where they had been providing structure protection and building both direct and indirect fire lines.
While winds will persist as the week progresses, Larimer County is under a frost advisory from midnight until 9 a.m. Thursday. The cooler weather expected Thursday should provide some relief to fire activity, though gusty winds are expected through Thursday night.
In Fort Collins, frost could kill sensitive outdoor vegetation if left uncovered, the National Weather Service warns.
By the numbers
The fire had burned 135,556 acres, officials reported Wednesday on the incident command website InciWeb.com. It is the second-largest wildfire in Larimer County history and could soon surpass the Pine Gulch Fire that burned 139,007 earlier this summer as the largest ever in Colorado. Containment was listed at 56%, and there were 857 personnel assigned to firefighting efforts.
Firefighters also flew over the fire to map it Wednesday afternoon, but acknowledged that even updated mapping would not reflect the extent of the fire's eastward advance.
The fire began Aug. 13 in the upper Poudre Canyon in an area between Chambers Lake and Cameron Peak.
Coloradoan photographer Bethany Baker contributed to this report.
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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