Editor's Note: This post collects all of our updates on Colorado's four major wildfires in Colorado for Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020. You can find the latest news on the fires here. Our original post continues below.
Here are the current statuses of Colorado’s four major wildfires (click on the fire name to jump to the updates):
- Grizzly Creek Fire: 32,302 acres, 61 percent containment (Aug 27, 11:40 p.m.)
- Pine Gulch Fire: 139,006 acres, 53 percent containment (Aug 27, 6:57 p.m.)
- Cameron Peak Fire: 22,845 acres, no containment (Aug 27, 5:40 p.m.)
- Williams Fork Fire: 11,992 acres, 5 percent containment (Aug 27, 7:18 p.m.)
- Other fires
On Thursday night, the Pine Gulch fire has become the state’s largest wildfire ever after burning through a remote high-desert area in western Colorado for nearly a month.
Grizzly Creek
Command of the fire passed from the Great Basin Team 1 to the Alaska Type 1 Incident Management Team on Wednesday. There are 806 personnel on the fire and containment stands at 61 percent. Firefighters are patrolling fire lines and mopping up any hot spots.
A flash flood watch for the area was issued by the National Weather Service on Wednesday but the heavy rains never developed. There was some light precipitation over the western portion of the fire. Helicopters continued water drops over hot spots in the No Name and Grizzly Creek drainages.
Pine Gulch
Wednesday's fire growth was barely noticeable compared to past expansion — only 38 acres were newly blackened on Wednesday. Officials expect containment lines to work as intended and limit any growth of the burn outside of the perimeter. Smoke and fire activity today will likely come from any unburned fuels in the interior.
There were thunderstorms north of the fire yesterday and a chance that storms will resume in the area today.
Cameron Peak
Cooler temperatures and some isolated rain helped to limit fire behavior on Wednesday. Officials expect warmer and drier conditions today that will result in a more active fire. Defensive operations will be most active near Highway 14.
Williams Fork
Wednesday brought some cloud cover and no measurable precipitation, which helped to limit any fire movement. The increase in humidity was a help as crews work on containment.
Officials continued to focus on the protection objectives of the Henderson Mill on the west side of the fire and Denver Water infrastructure to the southeast. To the north and east, between the fire and surrounding communities, crews are building containment lines.
The forecast today is drier with a chance of thunderstorms.
Other Fires
East Fork
The East Fork fire was caused by lighting on Aug 22. The fire is burning 11 miles southeast of Trinidad. Currently, the burn covers 338 acres and is 10 percent contained.
The fire is burning in a steep canyon with plenty of dead and down trees for fuel. Where safe, crew are directly attacking the fire, otherwise indirect tactics like control lines and fuel burnouts have been applied to contain it.
Willis Creek
This fire is in Pueblo County, about 1.5 miles to the northeast of Lake Isabel.
Thorpe
This fire is located in Park County, just two miles southwest of the unincorporated town of Tarryall.
Lewstone
The Lewstone fire started Aug. 22 about 15 miles northwest of Fort Collins.
