For another day, the Cameron Peak Fire saw no growth, staying at 206,977 acres. Containment grew Friday, reaching 60%.
While crews continued work on the Cameron Peak Fire, some of the about 1,900 firefighters working the blaze were pulled to work on the Thompson Zone, the spot fire thrown east over the Continental Divide by the East Troublesome Fire.
Incident Meteorologist Dan Byrd said strong winds are expected to hit the fire starting Saturday after midnight into the afternoon, and crews anticipate snow hitting the fire Saturday night into Sunday. The area will be under winter storm watch because of the incoming snow and cold weather, as will the rest of Larimer County.
Byrd said he expects 4-6 inches of snow on the far eastern side of the Cameron Peak Fire, up to about a foot in the higher elevations.
Operations Section Chief Paul Delmerico said containment lines around the fire, both ones along the west and north that are done and lines on the east being worked on are looking good. He added that teams along the eastern arm of the fire are working toward having it fully contained.
Delmerico said that in the Thompson Zone, crews are preparing a “catcher’s mitt,” an area farther east and closer to Estes Park that will be prepared if the fire makes another significant run toward town. In the Thompson Zone 1,723 acres has burned.
Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith said with the cold front and snow incoming, he has notified the Sheriff’s Office deputies to do whatever they can to get residents who have not been able to return to their homes back up to their homes to winterize them.
“It has been a long haul, certainly we understand that and we are going to work with you,” Smith said. He added that those wishing to go back up to their properties Saturday check in with the Joint Information Center for information.
He added that emergency officials learned lessons from the massive evacuation of Estes Park on Thursday that can be used if needed again. He urged residents there to be patient until fire managers feel it is safe to let them return.
Darla Sidles, Rocky Mountain National Park superintendent, said she and her staff understand the difficulty felt by those who were forced out of their homes in Estes Park as the park staff also had to evacuate their homes.
“For those from Estes Park who had to evacuate, we definitely feel your pain.” Sidles said. “It is my staff, that is my community, I live there. I very much appreciate the anxiety that evacuation has on people and the impacts it has when you have to throw all your things in your car not knowing how long you’ll be gone.”
Incident Commander Dan Dallas said crews, while they have taken advantage of the slowed fire growth, are prepared for conditions to shift again.
“The pattern of this fire is that it will calm it down for a while, then especially after a few nights with poor humidity recovery … this fire could get active again,” Dallas said.
