9,500 hectares charred, thousands evacuated

Colorado wildfire updates for Thursday, August 1, 2024

The four wildfires burning across Colorado’s Front Range this week have charred thousands of acres, killed one person and destroyed at least six buildings.

By Wednesday evening, the four fires were burning across more than 9,500 acres, prompting the evacuation of thousands of people and prompting Gov. Jared Polis to deploy the Colorado National Guard.

National Guard members will help with logistics, road closures and other tasks that will free up fire officials and firefighters, Polis said.

All four fires – the Quarry fire in Jefferson County, the Alexander Mountain fire in Larimer County, the Stone Canyon fire in Boulder and Larimer counties and the Lake Shore fire in Boulder County – started this week and were growing rapidly, fueled by hot, dry weather and parched ground conditions.

Click here to go to a specific brand: Quarry fire | Alexanderberg Fire | Stone Canyon Fire | Fire on the shore of the lake | Map of wildfires

Quarry fire near Deer Creek Canyon

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Last updated at 8:30 am

The quarry fire is burning on 341 acres of open space in Jefferson County, but fire officials say the blaze did not start overnight.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Mark Techmeyer said increased humidity overnight helped calm the flames and prevent the wildfire from spreading a significant distance.

However, hot, dry and windy conditions will return on Thursday, which could revive fire growth, Techmeyer said in a morning news briefing.

The fire is currently about a quarter-mile from the nearest home — in the Deer Creek Mesa subdivision — and firefighters on Thursday were focused on keeping the flames away from homes and keeping it on the south side of Deer Creek Canyon Road, Techmeyer said in the briefing.

“Deer Creek Canyon Road is key for us,” he said. “If we lose control of the fire and it spreads to the north side, that would be our nightmare.”

As four helicopters and a large tanker doused the flames with fire retardant and water Wednesday, ground crews from more than a dozen fire departments worked to cut off the blaze’s path.

Five fire engines and 17 firefighters from West Metro Fire Rescue dug fire lines, cleared brush and vegetation to remove fuel from the fire and conducted “burnouts” along roadways. Burnouts remove fuel from the fire’s path and help strengthen natural or man-made barriers that act as containment lines.

“Everyone should be worried right now,” Techmeyer said. “There is a huge fire that is difficult to fight. Not to worry would be the concern.”

Five firefighters were injured Wednesday, according to Techmeyer. One suffered a seizure and four were taken off the field due to heat exhaustion.

Techmeyer said no one was hospitalized and that at least three of the firefighters returned to work Thursday.

The areas of Deer Creek Mesa, Kuehster, McKinney Ranch, Murphy Gulch, Sampson and Maxwell remained under mandatory evacuation Thursday morning. according to the province’s evacuation map. A preliminary evacuation was announced for the neighborhoods of Hilldale Pines, Oehlmann Park, Silver Ranch and Silver Ranch South.

Techmeyer said he has seen larger fires at higher elevations, but the quarry fire is one of the toughest he has had to fight because of the terrain.

Steep, rocky areas full of debris, fallen trees and rattlesnake nests make it difficult for ground crews to battle the flames, Techmeyer said.

Thursday morning, the San Juan Interagency Hotshot Crew arrived in Jefferson County to help battle the flames.

Based in Durango, the Hotshots are a specialized firefighting team that trains year-round to fight fires in difficult terrain. Techmeyer described the group as the “SWAT team of firefighting.”

“This fire will not be won in the air,” Techmeyer said, adding that air support made a big difference Wednesday but would not be enough on its own. “Because of the terrain, it has to be won on the ground, with boots on the ground.”

Crews will continue digging fire lines and removing fuel from the fire path Thursday in an effort to form a circle around the fire to keep it under control, Stacy Martin, assistant fire chief with the Evergreen Fire Protection District, said Thursday morning in the morning briefing.

On Wednesday evening, 75 firefighters were on the ground battling the flames. No homes were lost, Techmeyer said.

The cause of the fire remains unknown.

Techmeyer said the fire was originally discovered by a sheriff’s deputy around 9 p.m. Tuesday and was moving southeast. The fire grew from a 10-foot section to the size of 37 football fields in less than an hour.

Alexander Mountain fire near Loveland

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Last updated at 6:53 am

The Alexander Mountain fire charred more than 7,000 acres of national forest and private land near Loveland on Wednesday, according to fire officials.

As of Wednesday evening, the fire was burning across 7,648 acres in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and on private land north of the US. according to U.S. Forest Service officials.

The fire grew mainly to the northwest and was 1% contained as of 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, forest rangers said. The small portion of the containment is on the east side of the fire, near Sylvan Dale Ranch.

“Smoke in the area affected visibility around the fire, and there were times when aviation assets could not be used,” forest officials said in an update on Wednesday.

At 6 a.m. on Thursday, a national fire brigade organization… Southwest Area Incident Management Team 1 – took over the battle. Larimer County officials and local fire departments will continue to assist.

The cause of the fire in Alexanderberg is still under investigation.

Stone Canyon fire near Lyons

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Last updated at 6:30 am

The Stone Canyon fire on more than 1,500 acres in Boulder County on Wednesday killed one person, injured four firefighters and destroyed at least five homes.

Firefighters had achieved 20% containment of the 1,548-acre Stone Canyon Fire as of Wednesday evening, Boulder County officials said.

What started as a small, 30-hectare fire near Lyon on Tuesday afternoon quickly grew to more than 1,500 hectares, forcing evacuations.

The fire showed no significant growth Wednesday, Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson said. He declined to release further details about the person who died, saying investigators were at the home where human remains were found.

Johnson said it is difficult to say exactly how many buildings were affected by the fire because a large number of outbuildings – including barns and sheds – were destroyed in the area.

Rough boundaries of the mandatory evacuation zone Thursday included Bear Trap Gulch and Cattle Drive Road in Larimer County to the north; Rabbit Mountain and Carter Lake Reservoir to the east; Indian Mountain and US 36 in Lyons to the south; and Elk Ridge and the end of Hell Canyon Road to the west.

As of Wednesday morning, Boulder County officials had sent mandatory evacuation notices to 2,286 contacts, the sheriff’s office said.

There are several paths closed in the area for firefighting efforts, including Blue Mountain Road, Steamboat Valley Road, Stone Canyon Drive, Nolan Drive and North 53rd Street.

Lake Shore fire near Gross Reservoir

Last updated at 7am

• Access to the latest evacuation map here

The Lake Shore fire is burning on six acres of land near Gross Reservoir in Boulder County, fire officials said.