A community meeting will be held Saturday, June 29, at 1 p.m. at the Ross Aragon Community Center.
In addition to the Colorado National Guard providing staffing for security and roadblocks, for the first time ever, the Army Reserve Space Support Team (ARSST) is embedded with the West Fork Complex. The goal is to see if they can provide satellite imagery data to fire managers that can contribute to ultimately saving lives and minimizing wildfire damages.
West Zone West Fork Fire: The West Zone of the West Fork fire is the portion of the fire burning south of the continental divide. Activity on the fire was limited to single tree torching and low intensity burning in small pockets of previously unburned fuels. Sprinklers have been installed and structure protection is in place along West Fork Road and Borns Lake.
Windy Pass Fire: Activity on the Windy Pass Fire today was minimal. Firefighters are close to tying off the contingency line on the north end of the fire. They are taking advantage of natural features such as aspen stands, meadows, rock slopes and existing road and trails. With the decrease in wind intensity the immediate threat to Wolf Creek Ski Area has diminished. Fire managers are looking at possibly putting in a line with retardant to prevent fire spread to the east today or tomorrow.
Evacuations: Pre-evacuation notices are in place for West Fork road and along East Fork road.
Closures: Again, there are multiple road and trail closures; the primary one in the West Zone is Highway 160 from just north of the chain-up area to the town of South Fork. For additional information on road and trail closures affecting the San Juan National Forest, go to http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/sanjuan/alerts-notices. And for the Rio Grande National Forest: http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/riogrande/alerts-notices. For highway closures, go to: http://www.cotrip.org/roadConditions.htm
