Weather is predicted to be hot, dry and windy today through Saturday. An infrared flight last night shows the total acreage for both fires in the West Fork Complex at 3280 acres. There are currently about 260 people assigned to the complex.
West Fork Fire: The West Fork Fire made a run to the north yesterday up to tree line in the area between the West Fork River and Beaver Creek. It also continued to burn unburned pockets of fuel to the northeast in the Beaver Creek drainage; the fire also burned to the southeast into the Spring Creek drainage. Firefighters continued to work on keeping the fire from spreading to the south. This is quite challenging because of the amount of heavy dead and down timber. Firefighters continue to employ helicopters to cool the south flank of the fire and to catch spot fires. Sprinklers are in place to protect the structures around Borns Lake in the event that the fire moves closer to the lake.
Windy Pass Fire: Yesterday, firefighters scouted and identified areas such as open meadows and previously logged areas that can be linked together to create an effective fireline. Those efforts will continue today, and as appropriate areas are identified, crews will begin line construction. Firefighters will continue with structure protection efforts for Wolf Creek Ski Area. The Windy Pass fire is southwest of Wolf Creek Pass and east of Treasure Falls.
Closures: There are no new closures today. The current closures are:
Roads: West Fork Road (NFSR 648) beyond West Fork Campground, Falls Creek Road (NFSR 039) and Wolf Creek Road (NSFR 725) (and all spur roads) on the south side of Highway 160.
Trails:
- West Fork Trail, also known as Rainbow Hot Springs Trail #561
- Treasure Mountain Trail #565
- Windy Pass Trail #566
- Continental Divide Trail (#831) from its junction with the Middle Fork Trail (#589) east and south to its junction with the East Fork Road (NFSR 667) at Elwood Pass on the Rio Grande National Forest
- Lobo Overlook (at the top of Wolf Creek Pass)
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.