For another day, the Cameron Peak Fire west of Fort Collins saw no growth, maintaining its footprint at 102,596 acres with 4% containment Friday.
Crews have seen continued minimal fire behavior over the past few days due to the cooler, wetter weather and only pockets of isolated heat in some areas, according to the Cameron Peak Fire media team’s Friday morning update.
This has allowed firefighters to continue to mop up areas along the roadways, removing or extinguishing burning material. Crews were able to reinforce existing fire lines and build direct fire lines where it has been feasible.
Continued progress has been made along Colo. 14, Pingree Park Road and Buckhorn Road as mop-up continued around structures. However, many roads are still affected by ice, downed trees, power lines and rockslides, officials said
Despite this, the media team said weather patterns have remained favorable for containment, with the soil and fuels still saturated from the storm earlier this week, coupled with overnight moisture.
During a live update and question-and-answer session with those working on the fire Friday night, Jon Teutrine, operations section chief for the Portland National Incident Management Organization, talked about how the snow has affected firefighting efforts.
“It has brought us some additional challenges, but it has given us some relief from the fire standpoint,” Teutrine said, adding that crews have been able to use the new snow falling on parts of the fire to their advantage.
He said one of the problems with the increased snow is identifying burn lines so that crews can find the most successful attack points.
“The fire isn’t spreading right now, but we need to find that black edge, so we need the snow to come off,” Teutrine said.
He said high-priority areas to face the fire head-on include the eastern side of the fire near the High Park burn scar and the north “finger” of the fire.
During the Friday night update and Q&A, Dawn Sanchez, a public information officer with the fire team, said the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office has completed its assessment of lost houses in the Poudre Canyon and is finishing up in Monument Gulch.
All those who have lost houses are being contacting by the Sheriff’s Office, and once officials have finished notifying all the people who suffered such losses, the department will officially announce how many structures have burned, she said.
The full Friday update and Q&A can be viewed on the Cameron Peak Fire Facebook page.
At 6 a.m. Saturday, Southwest Area Incident Management Team 3 will take command of the fire as the Portland NIMO team and Rocky Mountain Team Black are rotated off the incident to prepare for their next assignments.
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