Wednesday, July 10, 2013

West Fork Fire Complex - 7/10/2013 - unofficial update


There's been an interesting Op-ed printed in the July 12, 2013 High Country News by John Maclean titled "Stand down from Western wildfires" that's worth a read if you live in a rural-urban interface.

https://www.hcn.org/articles/stand-down-from-western-wildfires?src=feat?utm_source=wcn1&utm_medium=email

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Archuleta County Fire Ban

As of July 10th, 2013
Fire restrictions* are in place for ALL AREAS in Archuleta, Mineral, and Hinsdale Counties South of the Continental Divide


Photo taken from aboard the International Space Station on June 19, 2013



This will probably be my last update, for current information link to the following sources.

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for further updates link to


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July 9th 2013,  Archuleta County Emergency Information Update:

West Zone of West Fork Complex (Includes Western Part of West Fork and Windy Pass Fires)

Firefighters will be diligent maintaining the safety practices in these changing weather conditions.  Main objectives today will be continuing to patrol and monitor for fire activity and readiness for any new attacks.  Weather permitting, aerial monitoring will continue.



Weather (West Zone): 
A stagnant and strong high-pressure system over the area is continuing to make slow westerly movement over this region.  Local Red Flag Warning is issued for the West Fork Fire Complex – West Zone, due to extremely dry air, dry fuels and poor maximum relative humidity recovery.  The warning is valid from 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. 

West Zone West Fork Fire:  The West Zone of the West Fork Fire is the portion of the fire burning south of the continental divide. Structure protection is still in place for the Wolf Creek Ski Area, Borns Lake Cabins, and Bruce Spruce Resort.  The West Fork Campground is open.

Windy Pass Fire:  Eastern side of the fire continues to hold some heat.  Monitoring by air will continue today as well as Firefighters continue to patrol and monitor the fire area. 


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For those curious about the global warming, bark beetle, forest fire connection please see:  

"The Changing Face Of Our Forests - bark beetle and global warming"
and 
"A citizen's review of the 'San Juan Bark Beetles and Watersheds Workshop'"

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http://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81485


Thick smoke billows across the landscape in these digital photographs of the western United States. Both photographs were taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) on June 19, 2013.
The images show a plume wafting from the West Fork Complex fire, which was burning explosively in southwestern Colorado near Pagosa Springs. To the northwest, a smaller plume from the Wild Rose fire is also visible (upper image).
While the Wild Rose blaze was fully contained by June 25, 2013, the West Fork Complex was still raging through the San Juan and Rio Grande National Forests. The West Fork Complex is a combination of three fires: the West Fork fire, the Windy Pass fire, and the Papoose fire. Lightning ignited the first of the blazes on June 5, 2013, and together they had charred approximately 75,000 acres (30,000 hectares) by June 25. The fires were burning in rugged terrain with large amounts of beetle-killed spruce forests.

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