Fire Update
Information from the current High Park Fire InciWeb Page
- Date Started: 6/9/12 about 5:54AM
- Location: about 15 miles west of Fort Collins
- Cause: Lightning
- Size: 56,480 acres [88.3 miles² 228.6 km²] based on infrared data
- Number of Personnel: Approximately 1,748 including 16 Type 1 hand crews and 20 Type 2 hand crews
- Equipment: 4 dozers, 113 engines, 17 watertenders, 3 feller bunchers
- Aircraft: 5 heavy air tankers, 5 Type 1 helicopters, 3 Type 2 helicopters, 7 Type 3 helicopters, and 3 Blackhawk helicopers
- Incident Commander: Bill Hahnenberg
- Percent Contained: 45%
- Fuels Involved: dry fuel, beetle-killed trees.
- Confirmed Dead: 1
- Residences: 181 destroyed
While rain has helped firefighters in New Mexico control those fires, the Colorado fire has been plagued with low humidity and gusty winds. In addition to the main fire, there have been incidents of the wind carrying embers over containment lines and starting spot fires. Lately the gusty winds have grounded air resources, making things even more difficult.
The weather is not forecast to get much better in the near future, and firefighters are concentrating on protecting structures.
