The Lefthand Fire is now 60 percent contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service, after firefighters made “good progress” beating back the flames overnight.
“Things are looking good overall. We had cooperative weather with higher humidity and that always helps,” Maribeth Pecotte, a spokeswoman for the Forest Service, said at a 3 p.m. media briefing.
Conditions have improved so much that officials lifted all remaining mandatory evacuations for Lefthand Canyon at 5 p.m. today.
However, those residents of about 15 to 20 homes still need to be ready to evacuate again if conditions change, said Boulder County sheriff’s Cmdr. Rick Brough.
“As long as there are hot spots and it’s not completely contained, they need to be prepared to leave,” he said.
The fire has burned an estimated 400 acres, and 150 firefighters remain on scene. The fire is mostly contained on the west, south and east sides of the burn area. Pecotte said fire crews would focus their efforts today on further protecting homes and creating a fire line on the north side of the blaze.
A dozen houses and six out buildings were threatened earlier in the day, she said, but no structures are currently in harm’s way.
While the fire has not damaged any structures, crews have spent $350,000 battling the blaze. It will still take “a few more days” to fully contain the fire, Pecotte said.
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