Muddy Slide Fire is 100% contained
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The Muddy Slide Fire is burning in the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest and was estimated on Sunday night to be at about 100 acres, though crews are working to get a better size estimate on Monday.
Dylan Anderson/Steamboat Pilot & Today
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A tree crowns and adds smoke to the air surrounding the Muddy Creek Fire just off of Routt County Road 16 in South Routt County. Crews from across Colorado have been called to help out with the fire.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
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A Chinook firefighting helicopter draws water from a pond on a ranch near the Muddy Slide Fire in South Routt County just east of Yampa on Monday. The helicopter, which has the capacity to haul 1,200 gallons of water per trip, was being used to fight the fire and made a trip to the blaze every six to seven minutes.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today -
Firefighters gather and have a bite to eat at the Hideaway Ranch on Routt County Road 16 while battling the Muddy Slide Fire, which was reported Sunday afternoon to the east of Yampa.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
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The Muddy Slide Fire as seen from Hideaway Ranch off Routt County Road 16 in South Routt County.
Dylan Anderson/Steamboat Pilot & Today
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An air tanker can be seen dropping slurry on the Muddy Slide Fire Wednesday afternoon from Yampa.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
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The Muddy Slide Fire was Very active Tuesday night into Wednesday Morning. This is from near Lynx Pass to the southeast of the fire.
Dylan Anderson/Steamboat Pilot & Today
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The Muddy Slide Fire as seen from Colorado Highway 134 just to the east of Toponas at about 1 a.m. on Wednesday.
Dylan Anderson/Steamboat Pilot & Today
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An airtanker drops a slurry on the Muddy Slide Fire Wednesday afternoon as crews continue to battle the blaze just east of Yampa with air power. This plane was seen making a run at the fire from Gore Pass.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
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Firefighters battling the Muddy Slide Fire make their way through a flock of sheep Wednesday on Routt County Road 16.
John F. Russell/Steamboat Pilot & Today
The Muddy Slide Fire is now 100% contained, ending the months-long fire that was sparked by an afternoon lightning strike June 20.
The fires is estimated to have burned 4,093 acres, a number that has remained unchanged since the end of June. At the height of the blaze, there were more than 400 personnel working on the fire in the Morrison Creek Valley south of Stagecoach Reservoir.
Almost all of the fire burned on federal land, starting near the Muddy Slide Trail in the Medicine Bow Routt National Forest. It burned largely to the southeast from there, with the most growth coming in the first days of the fire.
U.S. Forest Service/Courtesy
In the early hours of June 24, the blaze burned through the Lynx Pass Ranch, claiming seven mobile homes and a cabin, though none of them were a full-time residence.
Since the end of June, the fire has seen minimal activity, but fire officials always believed it would be a “long-duration fire,” meaning it would take months before they were sure it could not spark itself back to where it could grow.
The Muddy Slide Fire is one of two large fires that have started in Routt County so far this year, as there are still a number of weeks before the snow flies, which is often considered the end of the fire season.
The Morgan Creek Fire in North Routt County near Seedhouse Road — a popular recreation corridor — had grown to 7,500 acres. As of Sept. 8, the fire was 24% contained and had just 12 people working on it.
To reach Dylan Anderson, call 970-871-4247 or email danderson@SteamboatPilot.com.
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