Elk Fire | The Silver World Newspaper

Northern Evacuees Return Home with Rain, New Fireline

Homeowners to the north of Lake City, including San Juan Springs and San Juan Hills, breathed a sigh of relief at 10 a.m. last Friday, August 14, when Elk Wildfire evacuation orders were relaxed, and they were allowed to return to their homes.The week-long evacuation for occupiers of upwards of 41 homes in subdivisions to the north of Lake City began Friday, August 7, and continued until last Friday when Hinsdale County Sheriff Denim Starnes announced a fire readiness code reduction from red/ “go” to yellow/ “get set” in county zones HNS-003A (San Juan Springs) and HNS-005 to the north of Lake City and west of State Highway 149 extending to the Hinsdale/Gunnison county line.While zone HNS-002 to the immediate west of the 7,257-acre wildfire (a reduction as of mid-week due to revised mapping) remains in mandatory evacuation, Lake City and surrounding zones to the east of Highway 149 were similarly relaxed from yellow/ “get set” to green/readiness category.In making last Friday’s announcement, Sheriff Starnes advised the relieved north Lake City homeowners to “remain engaged and alert.”Easing of the evacuation orders and north Lake City residents’ return home is directly tied to wetter, cloudy weather and work on a two-mile fireline in Quadrant G north of Lake City — a 10’ to 14’-wide swath of burnable vegetation removal, roughly a mile, the result of a hotshot crew’s methodic handwork and one mile each to the north and south cleared in tandem by Forest Service and county road crew bulldozers. The new fireline extends from the immediate north of Lake City at the Crystal Lake/Larson Lake Trailhead at IOOF Cemetery and continues northward in circuitous fashion to just above Larson Lakes.The line, according to Section Chief Chris O’Brien, provides an effective barrier for both Lake City and northern subdivisions.Work on the new fireline was a tandem project with Forest Service personnel utilizing a D4 flat track caterpillar on the south end of the line closest to Lake City, while Hinsdale County Road & Bridge’s Tom Hamel and Zarick Waddington used the county’s D7 HiTrac dozer at the northern end closer to Larson Lakes.Work on the new fireline was completed Tuesday, August 18 with hand crew work mid-week continuing the line northward through steep terrain to connect with a rock slope devoid of vegetation and, equipment drop-off point 40 on Highway 149..Scouts were out on Wednesday this week plotting a possible further extension of the fireline from Larson Lakes down toward the highway corridor.In addition to hand and machine clearing, the new fireline takes advantage of natural topography and existing trails as a safety precaution to contain the slowly creeping wildfire which continues to smolder in excessively dry downed timber.As a further fire deterrent and simultaneous with the Larson Lake fireline, a second fireline extension is being constructed by handcrews — with plans for completion later this week — to the northeast of the fire in consolidated Quadrant A (formerly Alpha and X-Ray) which will extend a mile east to the Highway 149 corridor in the vicinity of High Bridge Gulch. This northeastern fireline is adjacent to four hunting cabins which remain secure.Detailed contingency plans are also in place by an initial attack group in the event the fire crosses Highway 149 to the east, Section Chief O’Brien stating “we’re ready to go at a moment’s notice.”Low intensity fire is reported in unstaffed quadrants M and J to the immediate west and southwest of the fireO’Brien is part of Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 2 which effective Saturday afternoon, August 22, is succeeded by Type 3 Wyoming Team 2.With relatively static conditions, fire personnel as of Wednesday has dropped slightly, from 253 the first of the week to 223 personnel Thursday, the majority of whom are still headquartered at fire camp on the lower Lake Fork Whinnery Ranch.The Elk Fire is not a complete burn, Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 2 reporting that even after burning, “patches of blackened stems interspersed with green trees remain in areas where the fire has burned through surface fuels beneath the canopy. Large-diameter logs are smoldering and retain heat which is reignited during windy, hot, or dry conditions… during particularly hot, dry, and windy periods, unburned fuels within the perimeter may ignite, producing smoke and visible flames.”The fire team’s report this week repeats the need for patience in the face of what it terms “fire fatigue.”“Firefighters are doing everything they can to establish containment as quickly as possible so that life can return to normalcy. Rocky Mountain Team 2 sincerely appreciates the continued patience and gracious hospitality of local residents. Unfortunately, it will likely be some time yet before the Elk Fire is declared ‘out’.”Despite static conditions with the smoldering wildfire, handcrews are keeping a wary eye on Independence Gulch above Highway 149 where there is smoke, together with confirmation of hot spots from an unmanned aerial drone. The apparently downward creeping fire is indicative of a “stringer” in which normally upward moving fire gradually works downwards among tree and vegetation-clogged gulches.Hinsdale Emergency Manager Phil Graham was queried by telephone on Tuesday afternoon as to the exact criteria which was used in relaxing evacuation orders last week and allowing north subdivision owners to return to their homes.Graham credits Hinsdale Sheriff Starnes for making last Friday’s welcome announcement, the EM adding intense collaborative teamwork going into the decision by members of Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 2, Hinsdale County Commissioners, Emergency Manager Graham, and federal partners.Graham emphasizes that the decision to allow homeowners to return to their homes was not made lightly and is based on a trio of factors including current status of the fire, present conditions on the ground, and the outlook for weather and associated fire conditions in the future.“We take into account all resources which are available,” says Graham, including an indepth Forest Service computer application, FSPro, which combines predicted fire behavior in terms of long-term weather forecast and — given those factors —the percentage chance in which direction

August 20, 2026 No Comments

Welcome Rain Dampens Fire Fight Concerns

With frequent reference to the arrival of “monsoon season” and better than average chance of afternoon rainfall in coming days, fire fears from the Elk Wildfire — static in recent days at 2,307.5 acres burned — are lessening.Mandatory evacuation zones on the Lake Fork at the northern boundary of the county have likewise lessened with announcement by Hinsdale County Emergency Manager Phil Graham and Hinsdale County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday this week.Only a single zone, expansive HNS-E002 to the west of the Lake Fork River, encompassing the location of the fire within U.S. Forest Service Uncompahgre Wilderness surrounding Crystal Lake and Crystal Peak, with minimal private landholdings, remains in the mandatory evacuation mode.Another lower Lake Fork zone, HNS-E005 — a slim wedge of land to the west of the Lake Fork at the county boundary — was in yellow “Get Set” status last week but now has transitioned to the calmer green “Get Ready” category for preparedness in the event evacuation is required.Through efforts of Graham and his team, Hinsdale County Sheriff Starnes, following rain drizzle throughout the night, on Thursday morning this week announced evacuation preparedness advisories have now been dropped on all other Lake Fork Valley zones, including Hinsdale Zone 004 to the immediate northeast of Lake City with San Juan Ranch and San Juan Ranch Estates, HNS-E014, Town of Lake City west of the Lake Fork, HNS-016, Town of Lake City (Ball Flats, Lake City Heights) east of the Lake Fork, and HNS-013, Wade’s Addition.Despite the relaxed orders, Sheriff Starnes continues to urge county residents to remain alert to fire status.In addition to recent near-daily rainfall and increasing humidity, cautiously optimistic news shared at Monday’s information session is the fact the fire is not pushing toward Lake City but based on prevailing wind currents is instead angling to the northwest and east in direction of Highway 149.The zone to the immediate north of the Hinsdale County boundary, GNN-220, in Gunnison County — both sides of the Lake Fork and including Norsworthy property at Ute Trail Ranch — was in mandatory evacuation last week but has now been lessened to green “Ready” status.Static at 2,307 acres due to higher humidity and near-daily day and nighttime rain showers, the Elk Fire is described at present as “creeping and smoldering” and zero percent contained. The smoldering fire is sustained by brush and large downed trees, fire behavior analyst Sarah Bush telling a packed, school gymnasium crowd on Monday evening this week that the duration of the smoldering wood is based on the time — from one hour for smaller combustibles such as grass, brush and small twigs, up to 1,000 hours for larger standing and felled dead logs 3” to 8”-diameter — it takes for moisture to saturate wood and deter burning.The time required for moisture saturation for small diameter fuels such as grass, leaves and needles smaller than a pencil eraser is one hour, while ten hours’ moisture saturation is required to eliminate burn danger in larger sticks and branches ranging in diameter from dime to quarter in size, and 100 hours continuation moisture saturation in order to favorably impact larger branches with diameter golf ball to baseball in size; Bush said it requires upwards of 1,000 hours’ saturation to defer burning in large-size standing and on-the-ground dead timber 3-8”Out-of-town firefighters are divided into three units — Alpha, Charlie, and X-Ray — monitoring and providing advance fire mitigation in the wake of the Elk Wildfire north of town. Team Charlie members, above are pictured at the end of Elk Road, San Juan Hills Subdivision, on Tuesday morning. In terms of fire mitigation, team members “have cleared a lot of brush around a lot of homes” on the west side of Highway 149 and, in precautionary mode, wrapped endangered residences and outbuildings in protective foil and installed water tanks and hose systems in the event the wildfire regenerates.diameter.“It takes a long time to gain moisture,” she said and, conversely, “it takes a long time to lose moisture.”The relationship between humidity and the length of time wood burns is exacerbated in drought situations which exist at present based on less than normal rainfall combined with low snowpack last winter, rainfall in June in Lake City, according to Bush, just 50 percent of normal with the result of dry forest logs and brush fuels.Bush also briefly spoke on ERC — Energy Release Component — and the predicted end of traditional fire season. Based on moisture, there is a 50 percent chance ERC will reach the 90th percentile or lower and fire season will end by September 4. Noting the Lake Fork Valley is entering the traditional monsoon season, Bush said “we’re moving in the right direction” in terms of humidity.Conversely, and if rain stops and temperatures increase, “there is a 20 percent chance for the fire to escalate.” During the past 20 years, there have been four instances — 2007, 2019, 2020, and 2024 — when ECR escalated and fire danger increased late in the summer and into fall.Fire experts at Monday’s second largely-attended information meeting at Lake City Community School — 150 people attendance seated on chairs and bleachers and another 350 who attended the session virtually online for the start of what was described as a “robust” update — explained that rather than battling the Elk blaze on the ground, the fire fighting strategy, according to Operations Chief Chad Rowland, is “indirect containment” due to the ruggedness and extreme verticality of the terrain, together with extreme danger to firefighters from falling dead timber.Rowland recounted that initially after start of the Elk blaze on July 9, firefighters were placed on the ground as the wind-borne wildfire expanded. “And that strategy,” he said, “proved too risky in gauging firefighter safety.”“We had to rethink the situation and go back to indirect strategy.”Like Fire Behavior Analyst Bush, Rowland placed his hope that the developing monsoon season will reduce the likelihood of fire spread as rain penetrates the ground below the forest canopy.Since the

July 24, 2026 No Comments

Expanding Lake Fork Elk Creek Wildfire Approaches Town of Lake City

A fast-moving wildfire, which began in Uncompahgre Wilderness Area north of Lake City due to an apparent lightning strike last Thursday, July 9, has vastly expanded resulting in mandatory evacuations of lower Lake Fork River residents near the Hinsdale-Gunnison County boundary on Wednesday afternoon this week.Up through Tuesday this week, the extent of the fire was estimated at slightly more than 500 acres, although winds at mid-week have increased the burned acreage upward to an estimated 1,980 acres with zero percent containment as of Thursday morning, July 16. Resources on the ground and air as of Thursday morning are 223 personnel, six helicopters, three hand crews, and 22 engines.Lake City and Lake Fork Valley residents are in general on edge because of the fire which in addition to expansion from continued drought and gusty winds this week, has produced dense smoke creating some of the worst air quality in the entire state.Mandatory lower Lake Fork evacuations on WandreyWednesday, July 15, impacted Jeff Moler at the old Ryan Ranch and his immediate neighbors, Alena and Randy Haskell, and — more distantly — Tom and Jeannie Russell at Russellville, Scott and Becky Williams and at the County border, Rich Landry.Sky Ranch at Ute Trail, just across the county line in Gunnison County, voluntarily evacuated last Sunday In addition to Gunnison, an evacuation center has been established at the Armory in Lake City.The Lake Fork Valley has been separated into adjoining evacuation zones extending southward up valley from the County line. In addition to Zones 002 and 005 west of Highway 149 and extending north from the County line to the Independence Gulch Trailhead, which already been evacuated, Zone E006 next up the valley was in “Set Status” as of Wednesday afternoon with residents along Highway 149 to the south on Independence Gulch were asked to be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice.The remainder of upstream evacuation units, including Town of Lake City and Wade’s Addition within Unit HNS-E016, remain in the “Ready/Green” category with residents urged to pack a “go kit” with medications, documents and other essentials, prepare pet and livestock plans, clear defensible space and secure property, and “stay alert to official updates.”Due to heavy smoke and resulting particulates, Lake Fork Valley air quality reached its nadir on Wednesday this week — highest in the entire state — with an in-the-red 170 “unhealthy” rating.By comparison to the 170 rating Wednesday based on air testing at Silver Thread Public Health in Lake City, neighboring communities were in the “moderate/acceptable” range air quality 50 to 100 yellow rating, Ouray, for instance at 66, Silverton 55, Creede 68, and Gunnison 60.Lake City air conditions ameliorated to 90 — “moderate” on the health gauge — as of Thursday morning, in part owning to a welcome .09” rainfall which occurred late Wednesday afternoon. According to weather watcher Phillip Virden, “hopefully twice that amount” of rainfall is looked for on Thursday.Smoke-filled air conditions were largely the result of nearby Elk Creek Wildfire but also due to the Gold Mountain Fire which has grown to 37,734 acres — 11 percent contained as of Thursday morning — primarily in adjacent Ouray County but also fringing into the extreme northwest corner of Hinsdale County on the West Fork of the Cimarron River and up into southwest Gunnison County at Silver Jack Reservoir.Gold Mountain Wildfire’s first fatality was confirmed earlier this week when a firefighting helicopter overturned in Silver Jack Reservoir, drowning its pilot, 56-year-old British Columbia native Nicholas Dale.Dale’s Type I helicopter had been utilized on the Elk Wildfire the day prior to the fatal mishap, the death, according to firefighting officials, “highlighting the risk to protect public lands and private infrastructure.”In advance of intensifying fire danger in Lake City, some local residents began transferring irreplaceable files and heirlooms to Gunnison last Sunday and, with elevated “ready, set, go” evacuation recommendations on Wednesday, Rebecca Kaminski calmly coordinated transfer of the family’s prize-winning livestock herd — goats, sheep, rabbits, etc. — from their San Juan Hills home north of town to stalls at Gunnison County Fairgrounds.In the wake of the fire and occasional choking-thick smoke in town, SILVER WORLD interrogated both Lake City Fire Chief Justin Thompson and Hinsdale County Search & Rescue’s Harry MacKendrick, latter briefly explaining that S & R is on standby as needed in the event a firefighter requires assistance.S & R, according to MacKendrick is also available in instances where trailhead road closures such as Nellie Creek and Crystal/Larson are needed.“At the discretion of Hinsdale County Sheriff, Hinsdale Search & Rescue is here if you need us,” says MacKendrick, adding, “hopefully nothing is needed.”Lake City Fire Chief Justin Thompson is similarly upbeat, telling newspaper he and local firefighters continue to work closely with other agencies and are staying apprised of the wildfire situation at all times.While on standby, local firefighters continue to prepare with emphasis on response and protocols, “our role,” says the Fire Chief, “being structure protection and accessibility.”Thompson adds a shout out to several local fire volunteers, among these the fire department’s R.E. Hall and Rick Hernandez for “tremendous efforts” connecting with the incoming fire crews.Thompson also credits the fire department’s Matt Jones, Mike Carson, and Sam Fyler who, while in the midst of a house remodel project near the County line with Gunnison, dropped everything to mitigate fire risk by limbing trees around the home, utilizing a wood chipper for fire mitigation both at the County line and also north of Lake City in San Juan Ranch Estates.WORLD also gently queried calmly frenetic Curtis Rasmusson, multi-decade Wyoming resident who is OPS for the Wyoming Type III Incident Management Team which is managing wildfire fighting efforts in and around Elk Creek prior to transfer, due to complexity of the wildfire, to Northwest Complex Incident Management Team at 6:30 p.m. Thursday. The transfer brings additional personnel, planning capacity, and operational support assisting with incident safety and effectiveness.According to Rasmusson, the majority of the wood fuels now being consumed on upwards of 2,000 wilderness

July 16, 2026 No Comments

Tag: Elk Fire

Northern Evacuees Return Home with Rain, New Fireline

Welcome Rain Dampens Fire Fight Concerns

Expanding Lake Fork Elk Creek Wildfire Approaches Town of Lake City