Middle Fork Fire Fact Sheet
Acres: 19,782
Incident Commander: Jeramy Dietz, Type 3 IMT
Fire Information: 970-439-4725
Inciweb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7153/
Today’s Situation: The major concern for firefighters today is the predicted 45 mph wind gusts over the fire this afternoon. Additional firefighting resources arrived on scene of the fire yesterday, and continued to build containment lines and extinguish hot spots where safe to insert crews. Structure protection measures were completed in the Big Creek area, and crews there will continue to monitor fire activity and scout opportunities to build and improve containment lines. Aircraft will continue to drop water on the fire as weather conditions allow. Recent precipitation and snow over the fire area is assisting firefighters with suppression efforts. Firefighters are anticipating forecasted strong winds over the fire area today, and are focusing suppression tactics on areas of the fire that allow for safety of crews.
Please be aware of additional trails and roads that are included in the Middle Fork Fire Public Safety Closure Order. To view the order and closure map, please visit inciweb. Please avoid the closure area to allow firefighting resources to safely travel to and throughout the incident to perform suppression operations.
Weather:
- Today- Mostly sunny skies with highs of 56-61 degrees and relative humidity of 22-27%. Winds out of the west at 15-20 mph by 10:00 am increasing to 15-25 mph with gusts to 45 mph in the afternoon.
- Tonight- Clear night skies with lows between 22-27 degrees and relative humidity of 53-58% with winds out of the west at 12-18 mph with gusts to 25 mph.
Fire Behavior: Due to strong winds in the fire area, moderate fire behavior with some torching, flanking, and backing fire towards the northeast, northwest and southeast is possible.
Firefighting Resources: Approximately 161 personnel are assigned to the fire, including five helicopters, two single engine airtankers, one air attack aviation supervision module, two hotshot crews, five engines, and multiple overhead positions.
Evacuations: There are no evacuation or pre-evacuation orders in effect for Routt County. Pre-evacs are in place in Jackson county for Rainbow Lakes, Aqua Fria, as well as Teal and Tiago Lakes areas. This is not intended for the Rainbow Lakes Community. That notification from Jackson County was primarily made for hunters, and ranchers with cattle in those areas. Not all management action points stimulate evacuations, however if the fire were to reach any pre-identified management action points that are evacuation related, it would trigger Routt and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office to initiate pre-evacuation orders through their reverse-911 system. To sign up for alerts, visit http://routtcountyalerts.com or https://jacksoncountyor.org/emergency/Resources/Citizen-Alert. The county provides tips for wildfire preparedness, including planning for pets and livestock, on their website at http://www.co.routt.co.us/309/Fire-Safety-Tips-for-Rural-Residents.
Fire Restrictions: Stage 2 Fire Restrictions are in effect in Routt and Jackson counties, on all the Routt National Forest, and across much of Northwest Colorado. For additional information, please visit the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/mbr/home