Another Fire - Grand Lake Area

[Thom02099]

Fire just west of Grand Lake CO, forcing the evacuation of 300+ in the area. Fire is relatively small but producing a lot of smoke that's blowing into RMNP. Erratic winds have also been a problem.

A second fire in the area of the Grand/Summit County line not threatening any structures, but is in a large beetle kill area, and producing a lot of smoke visible from Silverthorne/Dillon area.

[4runnerguy]

We were in Grand lake for the last few days. After watching them hit the fire will some tanker drops, the smoke abated quite a bit. We went into Grand Lake for dinner that night (Thursday) and the smoke really wasn't an issue. Busiest day we saw the whole week!

[fanrgs]

There is also a new fire just south of Ft. Garland that blew up to more than 2,000 acres overnight. US 160 was closed temporarily due to the large number of emergency vehicles using the highway. And the smoke will undoubtedly affect the Great Sand Dunes.

[ppine]

CO is in big trouble this year. In the 1980s I had logging contracts with the State Dept of Forestry. We were taking out beetle killed trees. They suspended the program a long time ago. CO forests have been in rough shape for decades. The current drought is making it much worse. Be ever vigilant.

[Busskipper]

Thom02099 wrote:
Fire just west of Grand Lake CO, forcing the evacuation of 300+ in the area. Fire is relatively small but producing a lot of smoke that's blowing into RMNP. Erratic winds have also been a problem.

A second fire in the area of the Grand/Summit County line not threatening any structures, but is in a large beetle kill area, and producing a lot of smoke visible from Silverthorne/Dillon area.

Think the dry winter is speaking up.

Thanks for the report,