Sheriff, fire chief to brief citizens on High Park Fire

Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith and Poudre Fire Authority Chief Tom DeMint will be speaking to citizens at two briefings Sunday morning: at 9:45 a.m. at Cache La Poudre Middle School in LaPorte, and at 10:45 a.m. at the McKee Building at The Ranch, the Larimer County Fairgrounds complex at I-25 and Crossroads Boulevard in Loveland.

The fire was first reported at 5:54 a.m. yesterday and is burning on both private and public land, affecting an area roughly bounded by Stove Prairie Road north along County Road 27 to Highway 14, east along Highway 14 to approximately mile marker 111, southeast to Rist Canyon Fire Station 1, then back west to to include Wilderness Ridge Way, Rist Creek Road, Spring Valley Road and County Road 41 and all of the roads that run off of it.

Official estimates of the size of the blaze remain at 8,000 acres, but it grew significantly overnight, according to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Department.

Current evacuations include residents in these areas:

• Larimer County Road 27E to Bellvue.

• South and west of Bellvue, including the Lory State Park area, the Redstone Canyon area and Buckhorn Road up to the Stove Prairie School.

• Poudre Canyon from mile marker 111 to mile marker 118 on Colorado Highway 14. This means Poudre Canyon from Stove Prairie to MM118, including the Mishawaka Amphitheatre, is under mandatory evacuations.

• Between County Road 27E and Stove Prairie Road and south through the entire Rist Canyon area including Davis Ranch Road, Whale Rock Road. South on County Road 44H 3 miles to just north of Stringtown Gulch Road.

• Paradise Park Road, Moose Horn Lane, Magic Lane and Spencer Mountain Road.

• Old Flowers Road from Stove Prairie Road to the 8000 block of Old Flowers Road.

Road closures include:

• Highway 14 from Ted’s Place to Stove Prairie Road

• County Road 27 (Stove Prairie Road) south from Highway 14

• County Road 27 north of County Road 44H (Buckhorn Road)

• County Road 44H west of County Road 27

• County Road 52E (Rist Canyon Road) west of County Road 27E.

Eighteen 18 structures, both homes and outbuildings, have been confirmed damaged.

There are 250 ground and engine crews are fighting the High Park Fire; 15 engines and 3 water tenders on scene, as well as 10 aircraft, from helicopters to heavy tankers.

Investigators are on scene today to determine cause.

Winds are expected to be 15 to 20 mph Sunday with gusts up to 40 mph, which is driving the fire. Humidity is expected to remain in the single digits.

Public information is available at the Larimer County Emergency Information line at 970-498-5500 where Information Officers are answering the phone, and at www.larimer.org or on Twitter @larimersheriff, or Inciweb at www.inciweb.org/incident/2904/.

For complete information on this emergency, see larimer.org/emergency/emergency_detail.cfm?nam_id=85