Editor’s Note: This is an ongoing story. Updates will be provided as they become available.
The wildfire burning in Larimer County north of U.S. Highway 34 and west of Loveland, Colorado, has spread to cover 5,800 acres and is 0% contained as of 5 p.m. Tuesday, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
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Mandatory evacuation orders have been issued for the Masonville area and Glade Road from Highway 34 to Indian Creek. Evacuation orders are also in place for Drake to Dam Store along Highway 34, including Storm Mountain and Palisade Mountain, Waltonia Road, Sylvan Dale to Ellis Ranch, Eden Valley to Sunrise Ranch and County Road 18E from Pole Hill to Pinewood Reservoir.
Larimer County Board of Commissioners Chair John Kefalas declared a disaster emergency on Tuesday in order to access emergency management resources at the local and state levels.
According to the USFS, more than 200 firefighters are working to contain the fire, which they took command of early Tuesday morning. The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office is coordinating evacuations, and residents in the evacuation area are asked to text LCEVAC to 888-777 for further information. NoCoalert.org is also providing alerts.
Voluntary evacuation orders for Hidden Valley east of Devils Backbone including Ridge Parkway and Spring Glade Road to the north were issued just after noon on Tuesday.
The fire was initially reported to first responders in a 911 call at approximately 10:38 a.m. Monday morning, according to the LCSO.
In addition to crews responding to the fire on the ground, air support dropped water and fire retardant on the fire until 8 p.m. Monday. Crews are still working to contain the fire and are facing near-critical fire weather in the area with high temperatures and low humidity, the USFS said.
The National Weather Service issued an air quality alert on Tuesday due to heavy smoke from the fire.
Find the latest updates as of Tuesday, July 30 below.
Second wildfire breaks out south of Alexander Mountain Fire
The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office issued an evacuation order at 1:53 p.m. Tuesday for the area of Eagle Ridge near Lyons due to a wildfire in the Stone Canyon area.
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The second fire is burning less than 20 miles south of the Alexander Mountain Fire that was first reported Monday, July 29.
Fire restrictions were enacted in parts of Boulder County on July 1 due to high fire danger in the area.
The BCSO announced on social media that crews are actively responding to the fire in the Stone Canyon area near Lyons and said more information will be released as soon as possible.
Alexander Mountain Fire spreads 5,800 acres, 3,245 residents under mandatory evacuation
A 4 p.m. press conference on Tuesday updated the public that 3,245 people were under a mandatory evacuation order, according to information provided by Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen in his briefing during the press conference.
“Unfortunately, we have some areas where there is some impingement on residential structures,” Feyen said. “We don’t know if (the structures are) involved or not. We just know that the fire is backing into some of those areas. … Our number one priority after the evacuations is keeping our firefighters safe as well, and so we haven’t had a chance to put teams into those areas just because of the fire activity.”
Feyen said that fire activity is currently at the north side of Highway 34 in the mouth of the Big Thompson Canyon.
Fire growth is being observed in three cardinal directions, moving to the north and the east, and the backside of the fire is experiencing what Mike Smith, incident command for U.S Forest Service, called “slope reverse,” where the fire crawls up the backside of the hill aggressively as a result of winds pushing the blaze uphill.
“We’ve just had a wind shift, which we’re all paying very close attention to,” Smith said. “We’ve had wind basically out of the west, out of the north — but a little bit — but now it’s swung at a much stronger northerly wind, and you can see (the) smoke bending over.”
Smith said the Type 3 Incident Command structure that Larimer County has deployed will be aided tomorrow by a Complex Incident Management Team.
“If we can’t get in and engage this fire safely and make sure that our folks can get in and get out of the job that they need to, we’re not going to commit those resources,” Smith said. “So we’re doing what we can, where we can, when we can.”
Smith was hopeful in his statement that hotshot crews would be able to aid firefighting efforts, but resources are in short supply.
“We’re at 0% containment currently,” Smith said. “I hope that we’re going to see that start to improve, but it’s going to really depend on Mother Nature giving us a break.”
Animal evacuations underway
The Larimer County Fair begins Friday, Aug. 2, bringing 4-H animals, large livestock and local livestock to the area that is currently threatened by the fire. Feyen said his team was working with Island Grove Regional Park in Greeley to move the animals. Colorado State University Veterinary staff are aiding in the safe transport of all animals.
“So this is especially important if you get a notification of a voluntary evacuation and you have a large animal, we don’t want you doing that at night,” Feyen said. “We don’t want to help you do that at night. We want to do it when it’s safe. So help us help you and move those animals out when it’s early, and help us make arrangements for that so we can keep you and your family safe.”
Reach Hannah Parcells and Allie Seibel at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.
