Posted on 06/20/2002 2:17:38 PM PDT by sweetliberty
Heavy clouds and high humidity Thursday dampened the Hayman fire, allowing firefighters to attack problem spots and hold fire lines that had been threatened by wild runs of flames earlier in the week.
"The news is much better on the Hayman fire," U.S. Forest Service spokesman Bobby Kitchens said Thursday morning. "We feel like that today we are really going to give it a shot, get out there and really put a hurt on this fire."
Kitchens said the eastern edge of the fire, which flared Tuesday, and the southern edge, which threatened the Indian Creek subdivision near Florissant on Wednesday, were quiet, and firefighters felt good about their chances of containing the fire in those areas. He said a flare-up Wednesday near Turtle Mountain, southeast of Deckers, had also died down and been contained.
The break in weather was giving the 2,223 firefighters assigned to Colorado's largest forest fire a chance to solidify and expand their containment lines - which eventually will reach 100 miles or more to encircle the blaze.
The change in weather, in part, allowed the El Paso County's Sheriff's Office at 9:20 a.m. Thursday to lift a mandatory evacuation notice for residents living along Rampart Range Road from the Douglas County line south of Eagle Lake. The area, home to about 50 residents, is still on evacuation stand-by, should the fire flare in the area. Fire officials estimated Thursday morning the fire at its closest point was still about 3.5 miles from Rampart Range Road.
Arnie Lavelett, chief of emergency services for the El Paso County Sheriff's Office, said the Rampart Range evacuation was lifted because the winds shifted, the humidity rose and the eastern flank of the fire "laid flat."
"It's not a direct threat," he said, but cautioned that could change with a shift in winds or a rise in temperature.
"We are allowing people back in there today with the caveat that if the weather turns worse and the fire blows up again, we may have to bring them back out," he said.
That was good news for residents of Palmer Lake, Monument and the Tri-Lakes area. The sheriff's office has determined that if the fire jumps Rampart Range Road, those communities will be evacuated. As of Thursday midday, however, a voluntary evacuation notice issued by the Woodmoor/Monument Fire Protection District for those communities had not been lifted.
Thursday, Forest Service firefighters were in the Rampart Range area doing preventative work, clearing dead trees, cutting branches and trying to create defensible space around homes. Along other portions of the eastern edge of the fire, firefighters were digging fire lines by hand and with bulldozers, putting out hot spots and mopping up, sometimes up to 200 feet inside the fire lines.
Kitchens said stopping the eastern edge of the fire from reaching Rampart Range Road itself is crucial. He said the road, heavily timbered on both sides, is not a good fire break, and if the fire races past the dirt lane "there is no defensible position in there" to prevent the fire from dropping over the ridge and into heavily populated areas in northern El Paso County
Lavelett said additional firefighters will be brought in to clear thick brush and dead fuels from the Pike National Forest along the El Paso/Teller county lines that lie west of Palmer Lake, Monument and the Air Force Academy. In addition, fire engines from local fire departments will be sent to the area if the fire encroaches further.
The additional crews - how many has yet to be be decided but they could range from 50 to 200 - will be assigned to a third Type I fire team that has set up camp at a Christian school in Green Mountain Falls. The Forest Service became so concerned about the fire's wild behavior on Tuesday that it decided a day later to assign the third Type I team - the agency's most elite - to the eastern edge of the fire. The team is comprised of 40 fire managers, logistics specialists and financial people.
The spokesman for that Type 1 team, Chuck Dickson, said the team's focus will be to figure out the best way to protect structures - homes, businesses and the Air Force Academy - in northern El Paso County. He said the team will take the load off the Type 1 team stationed at Lake George, allowing those managers to concentrate on the wide swath of fire to the south. Another Type 1 team is stationed in Castle Rock and is focused on the northern part of the fire. Veteran firefighters have said three Type 1 teams was, in their memory, unprecedented.
On Thursday morning, the red-flag warning for the region, indicating severe fire danger, was dropped as thick clouds hung over the mountains. The mushroom clouds indicating active fire were nowhere to be seen, unlike previous days.
Even by midday, when winds began gusting high enough to ground slurry bombers from the northern part of the fire, firefighters reported no new problems. In fact, because the fire was quiet in the core areas, a hotshot crew and helicopters were dispatched to attack active fire at Buffalo Peak and Wigwam Park on the northwest edge of the fire, in the Lost Creek Wilderness area.
Such favorable weather may last only about 24 hours, giving firefighters a slim window to, as one fire official put it, "jump on this puppy and stomp it as hard as we can."
Officials continued to caution against unbridled optimism, warning the Hayman fire remains dangerous and far from being under control. At the start of the day Thursday, crews still faced a fire scene that is 136,000 acres big and only 40 percent contained.
The strategy for Thursday was to make a "direct attack," building fire lines up to the fire, said Gordon Warren, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman. The developments Thursday morning were a dramatic change from Tuesday when hot, dry winds caused the fire to explode and make a frightening run that devoured 23,000 acres in 24 hours, raising the total acreage charred to 135,000 and dropping containment from 46 percent to 41 percent.
The Hayman fire was deliberately set June 8 near Lake George, federal prosecutors allege, by U.S. Forest Service employee Terry Lynn Barton. She is charged with four federal felonies.
The only thing dampening Thursday's news was the latest list of structural damage from the fire's blowup Tuesday. Until then, the fire consumed just 25 homes and a business, as well as 13 other structures. But officials now say these losses must be added to the list: four structures in Lost Valley; four homes on Painted Rock Road; 21 structures including seven homes in Lutheran Valley Ranch; and in Turkey Rock, 31 residences, trailers and motor homes.
They also reported structures were lost in Westcreek, Trout Creek, Thunder Butte subdivision, Bell Rock and along Highway 67 in southern Douglas County. But they did not release detailed numbers.
Also, evacuees in Douglas County learned Wednesday night they cannot expect to return home soon because the fire remains so dangerous.
"The news is not good to get back in," said Sgt. Attila Denes, a Douglas County sheriff's spokesman, admitting his own optimism was crushed by a Forest Service briefing. "I was shocked at the potential of the fire."
I am for you too...wish we had some "weather" optimism down here in Durango.
My prayers are with you and all up there.
FMCDH
I suggest going to nifc.gov
Pretty good fire coverage there...my wifes sister works for them up in Idaho...she does a lot of of co-ordination for the Fed Fire Fighters and their transportation.
Hang in.
FReegards,
FMCDH
Yes, I understand, and I will keep you and them in my thoughts and prayers.
I spent this morning helping two friends e-vacing out of Durango Hills...not a pretty sight.
Check out that site...don't really know if it will help you, but it has updates and very good sattelite maps.
FReegards
FMCDH...stay wet and keep yer powder dry.
Approaching 60,000 acres...grim.
Try working with the maps...although your best bet would be to get on streaming-line with a Denver radio station...sorry, nothing more I can suggest.
FReegards,
FMCDH
The news is contradictory - one source stated that Show Low had already evacuated, while others state they are "on call" for evacuation. Does anyone know the truth?
I did find a link to a Red Cross phone number where you can call to have them check the refugee centers. I've got a trace in and hope to hear good news soon.
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