Cameron Peak in Northern Colorado erupted with flames on Tuesday August 13th. The fire grew in size by nearly 10,000 acres on Saturday, September 5th. The cause of the fire is unknown, but believed to be human created.

Officials say the biggest area of affect would be the Rocky Mountain National Park. The fires have reached the northern part of the park as they continue to spread southeast throughout the state. Many places have been put under evacuation orders as the fire rages on.

Evacuations have been under way since the start of the fire on the 13th. No building structures have been damaged yet, but people’s safety comes first. Fires are highly unpredictable, especially if some places are seeing a rain of ash and smoke in their neighborhoods.

Over the weekend more locations were put in to voluntary and mandatory evacuations. The places added to the voluntary evacuations: Red Feather Lakes, Crystal Lakes, and Goodell Corner. The places added to the mandatory evacuation: Buckhorn Road from Pennock Pass to County Road 27.

Some of the evacuations are caused by the air quality because the smoke is becoming very thick. According to the Loveland Reporter-Herald, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued an air quality advisory for Larimer County through 9 a.m. Monday. In some places the smoke has caused such visibility issues that if a person cannot see past five miles, the air quality is unsafe. People with health conditions should stay inside or evacuate.

Along with the fire raging on an incoming snow storm is approaching northern Colorado as of Monday night. A cold front is on the way, bringing cold temps and snow in the upper terrains and mountains.

The Colorado Sun reports that the National Weather Service in Boulder says heavy snow is possible and that higher elevation areas could see up to 14 inches of accumulation. It is not strange for this time of year for the weather to get cold and snow, especially up in the mountains. However, due to the incoming snow and the evacuations, a lot of homeowners did not have time to winterize their homes.

However, due to the fires, people are not allowed back into their homes if they have a mandatory evacuation. If they have a voluntary evacuation, they can send in contractors to get the cabins and homes ready for the snow.

The [incoming] snow will help firefighters but will not put out the fire that CBS Denver stated as only 5% contained on Sunday. The fire is not expected to be fully contained until Oct. 31, fire officials said. Colorado is burning and not even frozen water can save it.

Leave a Reply