![]() The Type 2 team is planning to assume command of the fire at 6 a.m. Hot and dry conditions are expected to continue through Sunday.Ī Type 3 Incident Management Team is currently working the Williams Fork Fire and preparing to transition to a Type 2 Incident Management Team, which is experienced in managing larger, more complex fires Saturday’s firefighting efforts focused on protecting infrastructure and high resource values in the area, and planes dropped retardant on the fire throughout the day.įire managers hope to keep the blaze east of County Road 30, south of Keyser Creek Road (Forest Service Road 139), north of Darling Creek and west of County Road 50. Sunday: The Williams Fork Fire continued to exhibit extreme fire behavior and expanded north toward Keyser Creek and south toward the Sugarloaf burn scar while increasing to at least 4,300 acres by Saturday night.Ī visible plume could be seen across Middle Park, the Williams Fork Valley, Summit County and beyond. With hot and dry conditions expected throughout Sunday, fire crews are preparing for continuous, rapid growth, according to Ed LeBlanc, incident commander for the Williams Fork Fire. The closure includes the Byers Peak Wilderness and the Fraser Experimental Forest, as well as trailheads and campgrounds in the area. The US Forest Service has closed the Arapaho National Forest surrounding the fire. No new evacuations or pre-evacuations have been put in place, but a public information officer for the Williams Fork Fire said that activity continues to be extreme and they want to be prepared. ![]() Sunday: The Williams Fork Fire has grown to approximately 6,000 acres overnight and fire officials are working on additional evacuation plans around Fraser in case they’re needed. Hot and dry conditions are expected to continue through Monday. The fire will have a long-lasting impact on water quality on the Williams Fork River and on the creeks near Jones Pass as the fire damaged the forest’s ability to act as a natural filter when rain and snowmelt flows into streams that are used for our water supply.Fire managers have a goal of keeping the fire east of County Road 30, south of Keyser Creek Road, North of Darling Creek and west of County Road 50. Grand County plays an important role in Denver Water’s overall water supply as the utility has been bringing water from streams in the county to the Front Range since the 1930s. ![]() Combined, the four streams in this area account for less than 2% of Denver Water’s annual water supply. These are two of the four small creeks that make up Denver Water’s Upper Williams Fork collection system that began operations in 1940. In late September, the fire burned into the forest around McQueary and Jones creeks. While this reservoir is not used for Denver’s drinking water supply, Denver Water expects to see increased amounts of sediment flow into the reservoir in the future following heavy rains and during snowmelt. The fire has burned thousands of acres around the Williams Fork River, which directly flows into Denver Water’s Williams Fork Reservoir. Forest Service firefighter sets up a water storage tank to run sprinklers around a building at Denver Water's Jones Pass facility.
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