Jan Wesner Childs
A raging Colorado wildfire prompted more mandatory evacuation orders Thursday afternoon as it jumped the Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park, fueled by beetle-eaten pine trees and dry, windy weather.
The Larimer County Sheriff's Office at around noon local time alerted people in parts of the town of Estes Park, on the east side of the national park, to leave their homes and businesses due to the so-called East Troublesome Fire, which has burned more than 196 square miles and is just 5% contained.
"Evacuate the area immediately and as quickly as possible," an emergency message said. "Do not delay leaving to gather belongings or make efforts to protect your home or business."
All routes into the town were closed. Roads were open for exit only. The evacuation order covered the north border of Fall River Road, south border of Highway 36, west border of Elm Road and the east border of Wonderview.
Residents packed up their belongings and cars backed up for miles under a sky turned dark red.
Other parts of the community were under voluntary evacuations.
Officials had earlier announced the fire had expanded to the east.
"We have confirmation that the East Troublesome Fire from Grand County has spotted east of the Continental Divide in RMNP in Larimer County," Larimer Sheriff Justin Smith said in a Facebook post.
They were also warning of danger near different sections of the fire. Hunters and other members of the public were being evacuated from the Routt National Forest in Jackson County and a pre-evacuation advisory was issued for the community of Granby, where some people chose to leave on their own ahead of the fire.
The town of Grand Lake was hurriedly evacuated overnight Wednesday as the fire quickly and unexpectedly grew in size.
“As of right now we know that there are structures lost … to the extent of those structures lost I have no idea," Grand County Sheriff Brett Schroetlin said in a news briefing Thursday.
He added: “Lots of structures lost, (to be) very honest.”
Firefighters anticipated Thursday would be a second day of potentially unpredictable growth in the blaze.
The fire is being fueled by dead, dry timber destroyed by beetles, incident commander Noel Livingston said in a Thursday morning update posted to Facebook. The plentiful fuel, combined with dry and windy conditions, will challenge efforts to contain the blaze.
"It's going to be another long day for firefighters, and obviously, we’re not out of the woods with the weather," Livingston said.
“Today’s mission is going to be on life safety, it's going to be on evacuations and ensuring people are out of the way of future fire growth and it’s going to be on protection of communities and protection of structures and residents that are currently at risk.”
There are several other wildfires burning across Colorado, including the Cameron Peak Fire, the largest fire in state history. Livingston noted there was a chance that it could merge with the East Troublesome Fire.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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