The Big Meadows Fire remained at 400 acres overnight. Firefighters are planning an indirect attack today due to the high number of beetle killed trees that make moving through the area very difficult and dangerous. The plan is to hold the fire east of Trail Ridge Road (Highway 34), west of the Continental Divide, and north of Tonahutu Creek. There are no structures or communities at risk.
Winds are expected to be between 8-12 mph with gusts as high as 20 mph today with a slight chance of a thunderstorm after 2:00 p.m. These conditions are a slight improvement over yesterday when the winds gusted to 40 mph.
A Boise Smokejumper Type III team took over managing the fire yesterday and will transition to a Type II team tomorrow. Fire managers have ordered additional air and ground resources including three additional helicopters and five additional Type I crews. Due to other fires in Colorado, as well as in other states, affecting many homes and other structures, resources are being spread across the nation.
Currently, there are seven trails that are temporarily closed in the area - the Onahu Trail, the Green Mountain Trail, the lower Tonahutu Trail, the Tonahutu Spur Trail, the Grand Lake Lodge Spur Trail, the Timber Lake Trail and the trail which branches toward Mount Ida from Milner Pass. All major roads and facilities in Rocky Mountain National Park are open as are our neighboring communities of Grand Lake and Estes Park.
The park has set up a recorded Fire Information Line at (970) 586-1381 which will be updated when new information on the Big Meadows Fire is available.
For more information about Rocky Mountain National Park, please call the park's Information Office at (970) 586-1206.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
