Total personnel actively fighting the Hayden Pass fire nearly doubled Wednesday night as the fire grew to 12,836 acres and crews prepared for troublesome weather conditions heading into the next few days.
About 442 firefighters are presently working the fire, which is expected to continue traveling south and east, likely heading toward the scar of the Duckett fire, which burned about 4,700 acres in 2011.
Full containment, which was originally estimated for the end of July, has been pushed to as late as October 1 because of the high risk of putting crews in areas surrounded by beetle-damaged timber.
“The fire is burning some of the beetle kill trees, and it’s unsafe to put people in the way of that timber because it’s dead, it’s down on the ground, and those trees hold heat for a very long time. It’s unsafe to put people on the ground to extinguish those blazes,” said Shawna Hartman, public information officer for the Hayden Pass fire.
Firefighters worked the fire throughout Wednesday in hopes of establishing perimeter lines.
“They are going to try to line that eastern edge of the fire,” said John Peterson, spokesman for the incident command. “The fire is predominantly moving east and a little south.”
Good morning from , FF get lined out at am briefing. Crews will build line on northern boundary.
— Hayden Pass Fire (@HaydenPassFire)
Peterson said the priority remains keeping the fire away from the small community of Coaldale.
“The big push today is to try and get a line around the northeastern edge to try and hold that fire in place,” he added. “Last night was a good night, we did not lose a lot.”
No structure losses have been reported.
“Currently, the fire is about a mile and a half away from Coaldale,” Operations Section Chief Travis Lipp said .
The lightning-sparked blaze has been burning since Friday, mainly in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness.There was no containment as of Wednesday evening.
“We expect increase fire behavior earlier in the day,” Kyle Sullivan, another incident spokesman, told reporters at a Wednesday morning briefing. “It’s not anticipated that we will have any solid containment today.”
He added: “We do anticipate additional growth.”
Crews continue working to mitigate fire hazards around homes near the fire’s lines, including even clearing gutters.
“I believe the flames are fairly close to some structures,” Sullivan said. “I’ve heard from within a quarter-mile to a half-a-mile.”
The Fremont County Sheriff’s office says 109 homes in the area have been evacuated and roads near the fire’s lines are closed.
Also on Tuesday the Custer County Sheriff’s Office and the director of the Rainbow Trail Lutheran Camp agreed to evacuate for precautionary measures.
“We are safe and sound at Custer County High School,” the camp said in a post on its website. “The evacuation was super smooth. Spirits are high and program is carrying on as planned. Our staff and campers are amazing! Their resilience, flexibility and enthusiasm shown today was truly incredible.”
Located near Canon City Colorado, the Hayden Pass Fire looks menacing from space. Be careful down there.
— Jeff Williams (@Astro_Jeff)
Cutty’s Hayden Creek Resort, a 157-acre RV campground and lodge with cabins just south of Coaldale, posted on their Facebook page that they have been evacuated as well and are closed.
After the fire was sparked Friday, crews searched for smoke over the weekend but were unable to locate the blaze. Smoke reappeared on Sunday, and the fire had grown to 5,000 acres by Sunday night.
On Monday, strong winds and dry conditions pushed the fire’s boundaries thousands of acres to where it now sits.
Officials have warned area residents that the fire will likely be a prolonged incident.
“We do not anticipate this fire to be over quickly,” Sullivan said. “This will be a long-term fire.”