Fern Lake Fire Update

As a result of the strong winds that blew through Rocky Mountain National Park on Friday night and Saturday morning, the Fern Lake Fire has more than doubled in size. Officials say that the fire spread approximately 3 miles in 35 minutes during the early morning hours of December 1st. The rapid advancement of the blaze forced the evacuation of more than 1000 people.

Here's a photo of Moraine Park by Bjorn Skovlin that was posted on the InciWeb website:

On Friday the fire was mapped at 1515 acres:

As of yesterday it was mapped at 3584 acres, and clearly shows how the fire advanced through the Moraine Park area:

Here's an update, as of last night, from 7News in Denver:



A community and evacuee meeting is scheduled for 5 pm today at the Town Hall board room, 170 MacGregor Avenue. This meeting will be live streamed at www.estes.org/boardsandmeetings and broadcast live on local cable channel 12.

There is also a Red Flag warning today.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DENVER HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM NOON TODAY TO 6 AM MST MONDAY. THE FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

* AFFECTED AREA...FIRE WEATHER ZONES 214...215 AND 216.

* TIMING...WINDS WILL INCREASE THROUGH TODAY ESPECIALLY IN THE AFTERNOON. LOW HUMIDITIES WILL ALSO DEVELOP AS TEMPERATURES CLIMB INTO THE UPPER 40S AND 50S. WINDS WILL BECOME EVEN STRONGER TONIGHT...THOUGH IT WILL BE TURNING COLDER WITH HIGHER HUMIDITIES.

* WINDS...WEST 25 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 65 MPH.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AS LOW AS 17 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS...FIRES WILL BE EASIER TO START AND WILL SPREAD MORE QUICKLY UNDER THESE CONDITIONS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND UNSEASONABLE WARM TEMPERATURES WILL CREATE RAPID FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

Based on wind forecasts for this evening, residents should be aware that pre-evacuation and evacuation notices could be expanded. You can sign up for emergency notifications at www.leta911.org.

For visitors, you may want to note that the Fall River Visitor Center will be open all week from 9am-4pm.

For the latest updates on the fire, visit the Inciweb website. To keep up with the latest weather related developments and forecasts, please click here.


Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com