9:00 AM Press Conference
Terry Maketa, El Paso County Sheriff
1205 homes unaffected
14 partially damaged
360 complete losses
79 could not verify
It's still early, and numbers are subject to change.
Estimated acreage burned is 15,000, yesterday it was about 8500, and expected to lose about another 3,000 acres.
Wind is the #1 threat, as it's very dynamic. They're expecting a Red Flag day. They transitioned to a Type I team with Incident Commander Rich Harvey at the helm.
Tremendous interagency cooperation, with a smooth transition to the Type I team.
Lt. Col. Mitch Utterback, Colorado National Guard, liaison to the Type I team
130 National Guard Troops at the ready prepared to support the efforts. Will keep sending resources until Rich Harvey says he has enough. The 52nd Engineer Battalion from Fort Carson is cutting perimeter lines. Also providing communication support.
Tommy Smith, CSFD Interim Fire Chief
Flying Horse subdivision is still under voluntary evacuation. They will continue to monitor the situation, the concern is the weather. Will continue to support firefighting efforts.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Department has released a new list of damaged properties in the Black Forest Fire, as of 2 AM early Thursday morning. They caution the information is subject to change.
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Evacuation Map
Postal Service information
8:00 AM
A press briefing is scheduled for 9 AM. El Paso County is opening a Disaster Assistance Center today at 8 AM at its Citizens Service Center on Garden of the Gods Road. Resources including El Paso County Public Health, insurance representatives, and grief counselors will offer services to those affected by the Black Forest Fire. It will be open daily from 8-6.
A Type I Firefighting Team is on scene, led by Incident Commander Rich Harvey.
Initial home assessments from El Paso County can be found here. A new list is expected today, and officials caution that the fire is still highly active and the information could change.
The latest evacuation map is here:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&gl=us&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=206132177599720387286.0004dee98b2d544474f6f&ll=39.088094,-104.664042&spn=0.524876,0.401133&t=h&output=embed
View Black Forest Fire Evacuation Map in a larger map
Mail delivery has been suspended for the following general areas served by the Colorado Springs, 80908 ZIP Code, impacting nearly 1,700 deliveries at:
Hodgen Road
Burgess Road
Eastonville Road
Thahosa Lane
The mail will be held at Briargate Station, 8585 Criterion Dr, and can be picked up at the side door in the lobby from 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. The phone number to the station is (719) 265-4409.
Additionally, the Postal Service has temporarily closed the Black Forest Retail Postal Unit. All mail and services are being serviced out of the Briargate Station.
Approximately 1,200 addresses serviced by Peyton, ZIP 80831 in the Black Forest Falcon area may be impacted by road closures. Mail for affected addresses will be available late this afternoon at the Peyton Post Office, 13055 Bradshaw Road.
Customers who receive their mail in Elbert through a Post Office Box or on a route can pick up their mail at the Kiowa Post Office, located at 708 Comanche St. The hours of operation are from Mon-Fri, 7:30 – 4:30, and Sat, 730 - 1030.
(Info comes from two USPS press releases from Wednesday.)
