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Weekend storm front helps cool activity on Silver Creek Fire

Lance Maggart/Sky-Hi News
The column of smoke from the Silver Creek Fire as seen from Buffalo Pass. (Photo by Katie Berning)
Katie Berning

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Public seeking information can call the fire hotline at (970) 725-3852 at any time. Anyone wanting CodeRED emergency notifications can sign up here. On Facebook: Silver Creek Fire 2018 Grand County Office of Emergency Management On Twitter: @FS_MBRTB @KremmlingFire @GrandCountyOEM

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KREMMLING — A recent storm front brought rain to Grand County this weekend, helping to minimize fire activity on the Silver Creek Fire, burning northwest of Kremmling near Old Park.

Early Sunday morning the Rocky Mountain Blue Team, a Type 2 Incident Management team that is overseeing the ongoing battle to suppress the Silver Creek Fire, provided an update on the status of the Silver Creek Fire. According to officials the Silver Creek fire “experienced minimal activity yesterday due to precipitation over the fire area as well as lower temperatures and higher relative humidities.”

Officials stated the storm front that moved through the area on Saturday also brought increased wind activity but added that those winds “did not significantly impact fire behavior or fire growth.” As of Sunday morning, the Silver Creek Fire is listed as 4,788 acres in size with five percent containment. Rocky Mountain Blue Team representatives confirmed that no structures have been lost from the Silver Creek Fire as of Sunday morning.

The fire is burning in relatively close proximity to a significant number of homes and structures in the Old Park though. On Wednesday evacuation orders were issued for residents of Old Park, a sparsely developed unincorporated community on Highway 134 west of Wolford Mountain Reservoir. Wednesday’s evacuation of Old Park came on the heels of the evacuation of Latigo Ranch on Monday.

Firefighters are focusing recourses on the southern edge of the fire where the blaze is encroaching on Latigo Ranch, Old Park and the Gore Lakes subdivision. Fire officials noted there are now a total of 514 firefighters assigned to the Silver Creek Fire.

“Crews continue to employ full suppression tactics as they continue to build direct fireline on the southeast side of the fire,” representatives from the Rocky Mountain Blue Team stated. “On the west side of the fire, heavy equipment will continue to be used to improve fireline previously constructed by bulldozers and logging equipment as crews prepare Forest Road 100 for possible burnout operations when conditions slow.”

Blue Team representatives noted a “cooler, stable air mass” settled into the region on Saturday, which they expect to bring scattered morning cloud cover and potential light showers later in the afternoon. The northwest winds, which have helped push the fire towards developed areas in recent days, are expected to shift to the north and northeast through the day with gusts up to 25mph expected.

“The high temperature for today will be in the mid-60s with minimum relative humidity around 30 percent,” officials stated. “Overnight temperatures could reach freezing.”

The Silver Creek Fire started on July 19. Federal officials believe the blaze was initiated by a lightning strike.


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