Extreme Winds, Low Humidity Cause Fire Growth Inside Rocky Mountain National Park

Planning efforts on Upper Beaver Road, October 24, 2020

RMNP Press Release; photos courtesy of Rocky Mountain National Park

Yesterday, due to extreme winds, the East Troublesome Fire (Thompson Zone) intensified and continued to make a significant run to the east from the Continental Divide toward Bear Lake Road in Rocky Mountain National Park causing additional mandatory evacuations of the Estes Valley.  The fire split into two fingers with one moving northeast along the Big Thompson River to Moraine Park and one east along Mill Creek into Hollowell Park. Structural engines from Colorado and beyond stood ready to defend structures within Rocky Mountain National Park and the Estes Park community. 
 
Firefighters developed and deployed offensive and defensive tactics when and where they safely could.  Firefighters were in a defensive mode focusing on structure preparation and strengthening the indirect lines near the border of Rocky Mountain National Park and Estes Park.  Crews took advantage of previous fuel treatments conducted by park staff and were able to aggressively execute direct attack on the front of the fire. In the Upper Beaver Meadows area and west of the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center, crews took numerous aggressive actions including conducting firing operations off of existing roads, using fuel type changes such as wetlands, and other features to piece together three miles of fireline to deflect the fire from progressing further east. Due to these efforts and changing weather, the fire is continuing to hold west of Bear Lake Road and Trail Ridge Road, within the park. Swing shift and night operations continued to patrol and implement structure protection as needed.   
 
With winds lessening and snow and moisture that fell across the fire last night, no active spread is anticipated today. Day and night operations will continue to monitor the fire’s edge, conduct structure assessments and protect values at risk.  

The Grand Zone of the East Troublesome Fire, on the west side of the park, saw minimal growth yesterday despite the red flag warning and high winds. Firefighters had a productive day and made good progress on the containment effort. The team assigned resources to the Holzwarth Historic Site area of the Kawuneechee Valley to begin prep work in the event the fire crosses the access road approximately 1 mile to the south.  
      
The East Troublesome Fire, which started on October 14, has grown to over 190,000 acres. The fire was initially burning outside of Rocky Mountain National Park’s boundary. However, on October 21, the fire grew over 100,000 acres and expanded onto the western side of the park then spotted over the Continental Divide to the east side of the park.     
 
All of Rocky Mountain National Park remains closed.  For the most up-to-date information on the East Troublesome Fire visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7242/  For the most up-to-date information on the Cameron Peak Fire visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/6964/  
 
Varying evacuation orders are in place for both the East Troublesome Fire as well as the Cameron Peak Fire. 
 
Updates are provided by Grand County Emergency Management at gcemergency.com. Sign up for the Grand County CodeRed system, which will notify your mobile device of changing evacuation conditions. 
 
Updates are provided by Larimer County Emergency Management at www.nocoalert.org  Sign up for the Larimer County LETA system, which will notify your mobile device of changing evacuation conditions.