Though the West Fork and Windy Pass fires are now being managed as a complex, we will report fire activity information for each fire separately. An infrared flight will occur again tonight to confirm today’s fire growth and give us accurate acreages. There are currently 143 people assigned to the complex; some resources will be shared between incidents.
West Fork Fire: The winds aligned perfectly today with the fire and pushed the fire to the northeast up the Beaver Creek drainage and it is now positioned around Elk Creek. There was very little growth on the northwest side up the West Fork drainage. The south flank of the fire is also holding well; helicopters monitored that flank to watch for spot fires and drop water as necessary. Firefighters took some structure protection measures on a foot bridge north of the trailhead as the fire backed down towards the West Fork of the San Juan. Structure protection efforts near Borns Lake are pretty well completed.
Windy Pass Fire: There was not a lot of activity on the Windy Pass Fire today; just a little bit of growth was observed on the northwest flank. The Windy Pass fire is southwest of Wolf Creek Pass and east of the Treasure Mountain Trail.
New Closures: Due to anticipated fire growth, both the Falls Creek and Wolf Creek Roads on the south side of Highway 160 were closed today, as well as Treasure Mountain Trail #565 and Windy Pass Trail #566. The West Fork Trail #561 also remains closed.
Forest Service campgrounds at West Fork and East Fork remain open as do the private campgrounds in the West Fork area.
Maps and photos will be posted on the Archuleta County Emergency information site at: www.acemergency.org as they become available.