TexasAg1969 Posted October 22, 2020 Report Share Posted October 22, 2020 Including a map which you can use the + - functions to zero in or out. The Troublesome Fire blew up overnight and crossed Hyw 34 (Trail Ridge Road) and looks as though it burned right over the south entrance to Rocky Mountain National Park just N of Lake Granby and is threatening Grand Lake to include our favorite restaurant that is now right on the edge of the burn area (Grand Lake Lodge) which has been in existence for well over 100 years made out of huge old pine logs. That area it jumped into N of Grand Lake and E of 34 is where a lot of pine beetle kill is located and has been ripe for a fire for more than a decade. We can only hope it kills itself out when it hits the end of treeline about 2000 ft. below the Rockies that delineate the east and west slopes of the Divide. Embers could go up and over under the right conditions and burn out a lot of the most visited side where I have used the hiking trails for decades now. And my brother has a home S of Estes Park that it could get to if it keeps going that way. These were already the worst forest fires in Colorado history and they have doubled since then. You can zoom out and see the other huge area N of Estes Park. 2020 Sucks! https://maps.nwcg.gov/sa/?fbclid=IwAR0IDEdhvDixyLfJu1bfB1dLRCDCLEd0qLNmlT33I2Ye-oywpYZbaluiDaM#/%3F/%3F/40.2301/-105.8874/12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasAg1969 Posted October 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2020 Well that didn't take long. My brother just called and the fire has jumped the Continental Divide into the eastern side of Rocky Mountain National Park. They are calling for voluntary evacuation now of the western part of Estes Park to include YMCA of the Rockies which is just a ridge line across from my brother's home. They are packing up and heading for their son's house N of Denver before it becomes a mandatory evacuation as happened in Glen Haven north of them with the norther fire last week. A fire that huge can travel faster than a car coming out of those twisting roads down the mountain, so they are making a wise decision to leave now before the traffic gets so heavy you go like a snail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DieHardBrownsFan Posted October 22, 2020 Report Share Posted October 22, 2020 My first cousin (once removed) just left Ramstein AFB Germany yesterday. He is enroute to Schiefer AFB out side of Colorado Springs for his next duty station. Luckily, these fires are not near there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasAg1969 Posted October 22, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2020 4 hours ago, DieHardBrownsFan said: My first cousin (once removed) just left Ramstein AFB Germany yesterday. He is enroute to Schiefer AFB out side of Colorado Springs for his next duty station. Luckily, these fires are not near there. Yep. The fear is that the fire N of Estes Park and the one SW of it will link up to become triple the size of the largest they have ever had which would burn out nearly all of RMNP and Estes Park. There is a big snowstorm coming in this weekend that may slow it all down. I got an email from my brother that they made it to their son's house and soon learned Estes Park is now under mandatory evacuation orders. Glad I made him listen to me. He was thinking of setting up a watering system on his roof. I told him at 76 he had no business on a roof 25 feet high and that this is what homeowner's insurance is for. That got his attention so they took their cats, clothes for two weeks and valuables in his car and skedaddled. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/estes-park-on-evacuation-due-to-east-troublesome-fire/ar-BB1aiRwM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted October 24, 2020 Report Share Posted October 24, 2020 I was scheduled to go to Rocky Mountain national park in the stay in Estes Park at the end of this week next Thursday that is. I guess those change of plans are changing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasAg1969 Posted October 24, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2020 10 hours ago, The Gipper said: I was scheduled to go to Rocky Mountain national park in the stay in Estes Park at the end of this week next Thursday that is. I guess those change of plans are changing All of the area is now under emergency evac order as in leave now, take nothing not in your vehicle already. It's a race between the fire and the snow that starts after midnight and expected to drop at least a foot on the area Sunday. My brother posted this webcam that is about 1/3 mile N of him with Carriage Hills Dr. in the forefront and Hwy 7 perpendicular beyond. The fire is a few miles off to the left of the camera shot with a lot if pine trees in between. Estes Park is on the other side of the ridgeline that Hyw 7 is going over there in the center of the camera shot. https://www.estesparkwebcams.com/carriage-hills-webcam-two-estes-park/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Gipper Posted October 25, 2020 Report Share Posted October 25, 2020 I have had my hotel in Estes Park canceled. They did it before I had to. Also will not the snow take care of the Fires and put them out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasAg1969 Posted October 27, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2020 On 10/25/2020 at 6:29 PM, The Gipper said: I have had my hotel in Estes Park canceled. They did it before I had to. Also will not the snow take care of the Fires and put them out? The fire was stopped by 15+ inches of snow and firefighters who kept it just to the W of Bear Lake Road in RMNP. There is a lot of open ground in that part of the park and to cover very dry grass with that much snow helps create a natural firebreak that would not have been there normally because the grass was so very dry and high. My brother says the mandatory evac is now voluntary and they hope to go home by around Wed or Th if all remains calm. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasAg1969 Posted October 30, 2020 Author Report Share Posted October 30, 2020 They made it back home but must keep vigilant because the % of moisture in trees was so low because of the drought, they are still vulnerable to a major reignition if most of the moisture in the snow dissipates by evaporation rather than melting and being absorbed into the soil to feed the trees water. They are on a Sheriff's website who keeps track along with the Forest Service and County Fire Service which will immediately send out automatic emails should it flare up again. This can take months rather than days or weeks for a fire that was this large before they can declare it officially out. They are still very concerned that the fire on the other side of the divide will spill over again in a different location as well. This spillover is contained just West of Bear Lake Road in the Park. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasAg1969 Posted November 3, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2020 All evac orders including voluntary have been cancelled. Brother signed up for automatic alerts should the fire rekindle. The more and earlier heavy wet snows they get, the better the chances the fires do not go off again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjp28 Posted November 3, 2020 Report Share Posted November 3, 2020 1 hour ago, TexasAg1969 said: All evac orders including voluntary have been cancelled. Brother signed up for automatic alerts should the fire rekindle. The more and earlier heavy wet snows they get, the better the chances the fires do not go off again. We have friends out in the Colorado Springs area and have been watching that on TV. Best of luck to everyone out West this year some awful fires in 2020. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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