Colorado wildfire updates for Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024
The four wildfires burning across Colorado’s Front Range this week have charred thousands of acres, killed one person and destroyed at least six buildings.
As of Wednesday night, the four fires were burning on more than 9,500 acres, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people and prompting Gov. Jared Polis to deploy the Colorado National Guard.
National Guard members will begin helping with logistics, road closures and other tasks that will free up fire officials and firefighters, Polis said.
All four fires — the Quarry fire in Jefferson County, the Alexander Mountain fire in Larimer County, the Stone Canyon fire in Boulder and Larimer counties and the Lake Shore fire in Boulder County — began this week and grew rapidly, fueled by hot, dry weather and parched conditions on the ground.
On Thursday, four Colorado lawmakers asked the National Interagency Fire Center to send more fire resources to the state.
U.S. Reps. Brittany Pettersen and Joe Neguse, and U.S. Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper, asked the fire center to help Colorado get more boots on the ground, hand crews that are available as soon as possible and any available engines, incident management teams or aviation resources.
“We understand the pressures facing our wildland firefighting workforce, as wildfires rage all across the western United States and continue to threaten many of our communities,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the fire center. “Existing resources are stretched thin to meet those demands. … We continue to face extreme heat and drought conditions that may exacerbate existing fires and increase the risk of additional wildfires. Time is of the essence to save lives and homes.”
Click here to skip to a specific fire: Quarry fire | Alexander Mountain fire | Stone Canyon fire | Lake Shore fire | Wildfire map
Quarry fire near Deer Creek Canyon
- Access the latest evacuation map here
Last updated at 8:30 a.m.
The Quarry fire is burning on 341 acres of land in Jefferson County open space, but fire officials said it did not grow overnight.
Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Mark Techmeyer said increased humidity overnight helped calm the flames and prevent the wildfire from spreading a significant distance.
However, hot, dry and windy conditions are set to return Thursday, which could revive the fire’s growth, Techmeyer said in a morning news briefing.
The fire is currently about a quarter-mile from the nearest home — in the Deer Creek Mesa subdivision — and firefighters Thursday are focused on keeping the flames away from houses and keeping it on the south side of Deer Creek Canyon Road , Techmeyer said in the briefing.
“Deer Creek Canyon Road is the key for us,” he said. “If we lose control of the fire and it jumps over to the north side, that would be our nightmare.”
Thursday morning, one helicopter and a large air tanker doused the flames with fire retardant and water while ground crews from more than a dozen fire agencies worked to cut off the fire’s path.
Ground crews are digging firelines, cutting down brush and vegetation to take fuel from the fire and conducting “burnouts” along roadways, according to West Metro Fire Rescue. Burnouts remove fuel from the fire’s path and help strengthen natural or manmade barriers that act as containment lines.
“Everybody should be worried right now,” Techmeyer said. “There’s a huge fire that’s difficult to fight. Not being worried would be the concern.”
Five firefighters were injured Wednesday, according to Techmeyer. One had a seizure and four were taken out of the field due to heat exhaustion.
Techmeyer said none were hospitalized and at least three of the firefighters were back on the job Thursday.
The Deer Creek Mesa, Kuehster, McKinney Ranch, Murphy Gulch, Sampson and Maxwell areas remained under mandatory evacuation Thursday morning, according to the county’s evacuation map. The Hilldale Pines, Oehlmann Park, Silver Ranch, West Ranch, Homestead and Silver Ranch South neighborhoods were on pre-evacuation notice.
Techmeyer said he’s seen bigger fires in higher elevations, but the Quarry fire is one of the toughest he’s had to fight because of the terrain.
Steep, rocky areas filled with debris, fallen trees and rattlesnake nests make it difficult for ground crews to fight the flames, Techmeyer said.
Thursday morning, the San Juan Interagency Hotshot Crew arrived in Jefferson County to help fight the flames.
Based out of Durango, the Hotshots are a specialist firefighting team that trains year-round to battle fires in tough terrains. Techmeyer described the group as the “SWAT team of firefighting.”
“This fire is not going to be won in the air,” Techmeyer said, adding that air support made a big difference Wednesday but wouldn’t be enough by itself. “Because of the terrain, it has to be won on the ground, with boots on the ground.”
Crews Thursday will continue to dig fire lines and remove fuel from the fire’s path, attempting to form a circle around the fire to contain it, Stacy Martin, assistant fire chief at Evergreen Fire Protection District, said in Thursday’s morning briefing.
As of Wednesday night, 75 firefighters were working on the ground to fight the flames. No homes have been lost, Techmeyer said.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
Techmeyer said the fire was originally discovered by a sheriff’s deputy around 9 p.m. Tuesday and was moving southeast. The fire bloomed from a 10-foot section to the size of 37 football fields in less than an hour.
Alexander Mountain fire near Loveland
- Access the latest evacuation map here
Last updated at 12:10 p.m.
The Alexander Mountain fire has charred more than 7,000 acres of national forest and private land near Loveland since Monday, according to fire officials.
As of Wednesday night, the fire was burning on 7,648 acres in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and on private land north of U.S. 34, according to U.S. Forest Service officials. Fire officials did not have an acreage update Thursday morning.
The fire mainly grew to the northwest Wednesday and was 1% contained as of Thursday morning, forest officials said. The small section of containment is on the east side of the fire, near Sylvan Dale Ranch.
“Smoke in the area impacted visibility around the fire, and there were times when aviation assets could not be utilized,” forest officials said in a Wednesday update.
At 6 a.m. Thursday, a national fire agency — Southwest Area Incident Management Team 1 — took over the fight. Larimer County officials and local fire agencies will continue to assist.
Jayson Coil, an operations chief for the new fire management team, said fire crews had two main priorities during a Thursday briefing: protecting the communities of Masonville to the east and Cedar Park to the northwest while also making sure the fire doesn’t burn farther south.
“We don’t anticipate the fire will burn north through the Cameron Peak fire scar,” Coil said in the briefing, adding that crews were trying to extend the fire containment line on the east side of the blaze to join the burn scar.
Coil said the land south of Highway 34 has more timber and fuel for the fire to burn, and that there would be more long-term consequences if the fire crossed the highway.
The cause of the Alexander Mountain fire remains under investigation.
Jennifer Coll waited to go until a sheriff’s deputy knocked on her door.
She didn’t want to leave her home of 31 years on Wild Lane, even after the Alexander Mountain fire dropped a thin layer of ash on the furniture and lights inside, and her head ached from the smoke.
But when the deputy showed up, Coll, 73, knew it was time to evacuate.
“Kind of like a kid who’s been caught,” she said. “I knew the jig was up.”
On Tuesday, she and her husband packed up their little red camper, dubbed Ruby, and loaded up their dog, Torrey. They grabbed the birth certificates, passports, the deed to the house. Nothing sentimental, because there was too much to bring.
She’s evacuated four times over the decades, for fires and floods, but the home has always stood fast, unscathed. She’s optimistic it will stay that way this time, too.
“It’s home,” Coll said.
Every evacuation brings its own challenges, she said. This time, they ended up in the parking lot of Foundations Church, which was activated as an emergency shelter in partnership with the Red Cross.
The shelter had about 10 people staying in the building and another 12 sheltering in RVs in the parking lot on Thursday, Red Cross shelter supervisor Gary Zawilinski said. Many evacuees were staying with family, friends, or in hotels, he added. At its peak on Tuesday night, the shelter saw 42 residents.
On Thursday, Coll sat in a camping chair under a canopy providing shade and waited for the all-clear to go home. She mused about the building’s survival all these years.
“I think we’re in a magic zone, a blessed zone,” she said. “Even the Thompson flood stopped a few feet before it got to our place.”
Stone Canyon fire near Lyons
- Access the latest evacuation map here
Last updated at 9:30 a.m.
The Stone Canyon fire burning on more than 1,500 acres of land in Boulder County killed one person, injured four firefighters and charred at least five homes on Wednesday.
Firefighters had gained 20% containment on the 1,548-acre Stone Canyon fire as of Wednesday night, and the flames barely spread overnight, Boulder County officials said.
What started Tuesday afternoon as a small, 30-acre fire near Lyons quickly grew to more than 1,500 acres, forcing evacuations.
The fire did not see significant growth Wednesday or overnight into Thursday, officials said. They declined to release further details about the person who died and said investigators were at the home where human remains were found.
Less air support will be sent to the Stone Canyon fire Thursday as long as the flames remain calm, Boulder officials said in a morning update. Instead, fire officials will direct planes and helicopters to fires that are seeing more growth.
Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson said it’s difficult to tell exactly how many buildings have been affected by the fire because there’s a large number of outbuildings — including barns and sheds — in the area that have been destroyed.
Rough boundaries of the mandatory evacuation zone Thursday include Bear Trap Gulch and Cattle Drive Road in Larimer County to the north; Rabbit Mountain and Carter Lake Reservoir to the east; Indian Mountain and U.S. 36 in Lyons to the south; and Elk Ridge and the end of Hell Canyon Road to the west.
As of Wednesday morning, Boulder County officials had sent mandatory evacuation notices to 2,286 contacts, the sheriff’s office said.
Several roads are closed in the area for firefighting efforts, including Blue Mountain Road, Steamboat Valley Road, Stone Canyon Drive, Nolan Drive and North 53rd Street.
Lake Shore fire near Gross Reservoir
Last updated at 12:15 p.m.
- Access the latest evacuation map here
The Lake Shore fire burned six acres of land near Gross Reservoir in Boulder County before firefighters knocked it out, fire officials said.
As of 9 a.m. Thursday, Boulder officials said all evacuation orders and road closures in the area had been lifted.
“Residents are able to go back home,” Boulder County spokesperson Carrie Haverfield said Thursday, confirming the fire had been fully contained. “That fire is just about out.”
Residents will continue to see firefighting equipment in the area as crews mop up after the fire, and should drive slowly, Boulder officials said Thursday. Xcel Energy will also be working in the area to restore gas service.
As of Wednesday night, fire officials were talking to two people they believe accidentally started the fire. No arrests had been made as of Thursday.
One structure was “lost” during the fire, according to a Thursday morning update from fire officials. Live helicopter footage from 9News on Wednesday showed a home destroyed by the fire.
On Wednesday, Mountain View Fire Rescue spokesperson Rick Tillery said a second structure was “impacted” by the fire.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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