Fire in Grand County CO - 10.31.20 update

[Thom02099]

Another fire that has been growing rapidly. The East Troublesome Fire is reported to be moving into the west side of Grand Lake and the western border of RMNP. Mandatory evacuation order for the entire town of Grand Lake. Only real way to get out is south on US 34 to Granby, so they have made US 34 a one way highway southbound only.

H E R E East Troublesome and H E R E - 9News are 2 sources of information.

Snow is forecast for the weekend. CANNOT come soon enough.

[Thom02099]

ppine wrote:

cptqueeg wrote:
The firefighters are probably having a tough time w the conditions. Nothing like waking up to a foot of new snow and then having to lace up the frozen White's boots for a nice 16 hour day in the cold.

Firefighters would give anything for a foot of snow.
Some other people do not like working outdoors.

Looks like another snowstorm is on the horizon for the weekend. Will see if it's over the fire areas, could be more of a southern event.

[Thom02099]

JAC1982 wrote:
Winding River Resort (the one popular with RVers) is OK. They only had minimal loss. Winding River Ranch, which is nearby and an event venue/guest ranch was destroyed.

Here's the update from Winding River Resort's Facebook page:
The East Troublesome Fire came in from the South and the 1st structures it encountered were at our Sasperilla Saloon (Before and After Photos). In addition to the Saloon we lost 2 large buildings and a small horse shed. All other barns, buildings, cabins, campsites and houses remain standing. The fire skirted around Winding River Resort property.

Update from Winding River Ranch:
We were devastated to learn about the total loss of The Winding River Ranch at the hands of the East Troublesome Fire that raged out of control last night.
As many of you know, the wildfires in Colorado took a turn towards Grand Lake last night. The Winding River Ranch was in the path of the fire, and all buildings were burned to the ground. This event venue and the animal sanctuary were destroyed; however, all of the animals, Granny, Travis, Kristin, and their staff, are all safe.

Thanks for the update and clarification. Bittersweet.

[ppine]

cptqueeg wrote:
The firefighters are probably having a tough time w the conditions. Nothing like waking up to a foot of new snow and then having to lace up the frozen White's boots for a nice 16 hour day in the cold.

Firefighters would give anything for a foot of snow.
Some other people do not like working outdoors.

[JAC1982]

Winding River Resort (the one popular with RVers) is OK. They only had minimal loss. Winding River Ranch, which is nearby and an event venue/guest ranch was destroyed.

Here's the update from Winding River Resort's Facebook page:
The East Troublesome Fire came in from the South and the 1st structures it encountered were at our Sasperilla Saloon (Before and After Photos). In addition to the Saloon we lost 2 large buildings and a small horse shed. All other barns, buildings, cabins, campsites and houses remain standing. The fire skirted around Winding River Resort property.

Update from Winding River Ranch:
We were devastated to learn about the total loss of The Winding River Ranch at the hands of the East Troublesome Fire that raged out of control last night.
As many of you know, the wildfires in Colorado took a turn towards Grand Lake last night. The Winding River Ranch was in the path of the fire, and all buildings were burned to the ground. This event venue and the animal sanctuary were destroyed; however, all of the animals, Granny, Travis, Kristin, and their staff, are all safe.

[Thom02099]

Just found out that the Elk Creek Campground, just outside Grand Lake, and down the road from Winding River Resort, did in fact survive the fire, according to their Facebook page. As posted earlier, the Winding River Resort was completely destroyed by the fire. Close proximity to each other, one survived, the other didn't.

And in the Cameron Peak fire to the north, also found out that nearly all of the USFS campgrounds in Poudre Canyon did survive the fire with little to no damage, with the exception of the Jacks Gulch CG, which sustained significant fire damage. Chambers Lake, Aspen Glen, Big Bend, Big South and Tunnel CGs all escaped the fire.

[vermilye]

Thom02099 wrote:
Firefighters have been put up in the Stanley Hotel in Estes. They had a down day, as pointed out, due to the extreme cold and poor road conditions. It was interesting to look toward the foothills this morning and see what appeared to have been steam rising from the western view.

And in Grand Lake area, the Sheriff over there organized a certified group of folks to go in to evacuated houses and do everything they could to winterize the houses. His department put these folks in touch with homeowners to winterize as many houses as they possibly could, given the current weather conditions. HUGE KUDOS to Sheriff Brett Schroetlin of Grand County for thinking outside the box for a solution to a monumental problem.

Let's hope they do better than the folks who stayed there when it was called the Overlook Hotel in the Shining...

[Thom02099]

Firefighters have been put up in the Stanley Hotel in Estes. They had a down day, as pointed out, due to the extreme cold and poor road conditions. It was interesting to look toward the foothills this morning and see what appeared to have been steam rising from the western view.

And in Grand Lake area, the Sheriff over there organized a certified group of folks to go in to evacuated houses and do everything they could to winterize the houses. His department put these folks in touch with homeowners to winterize as many houses as they possibly could, given the current weather conditions. HUGE KUDOS to Sheriff Brett Schroetlin of Grand County for thinking outside the box for a solution to a monumental problem.

[JAC1982]

Oh and the town of Estes Park posted on their Facebook page to ask people to NOT visit right now for recreation purposes. That's sad they even had to post that.

[JAC1982]

They're keeping the firefighters in for another day today. The snow is done but the roads are not good and some areas up there got over a foot (hooray!). They are allowing some residents in Grand County back up to their properties too. I'm guessing we'll get a real picture tomorrow.

[cptqueeg]

The firefighters are probably having a tough time w the conditions. Nothing like waking up to a foot of new snow and then having to lace up the frozen White's boots for a nice 16 hour day in the cold.

[padredw]

Thanks, Thom. We are following these fires with great concern and sorrow. We camped at Glacier Basin campground in September and had to leave early because of the September snowfall. Now we are thankful for this snowfall and hope that it will be enough to at least help the firefighters. Please continue to keep us posted.

[Thom02099]

News reports indicate that the Winding River Resort just outside of Grand Lake was completely destroyed by the fire. Can't find any information on the Elk Creek Campground, but the mapping would indicate that it probably sustained damage.

The East Troublesome Fire was also burning up toward the Kawuneeche Entrance/Vistors Center but had not reached that far north. Hopefully the weather will help to stall out the fire from moving further north.

On the east side spot fire outside Estes Park, parts of Moraine Park have been burned, around Cub Lake and Fern Lake, and appears that the fire may have gotten in to the Campground Loop D (the tent loop). Also burned are areas north of Moraine Park up to US 34 and the Beaver Meadows area.

Right now, here in Loveland, we've got probably 7-8 inches of snow and it's still coming down pretty good. 11 inches reported in NW Fort Collins and 17 inches reported in the area of the Mishawaka in Poudre Canyon. I so hope that they are getting dumped on big time on both the Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires.

[ppine]

Forests in National Parks may be on the only place worse than the National Forests. They have no forest management at all.

[Thom02099]

Fire as of 10.24.20 is now on the western edge of the Town of Estes Park and approaching the Bear Lake Road in RMNP. H E R E - Update is an update, this is now a national news story. All of Estes Park now under mandatory evacuation, and areas south along CO 7 from Lily Lake to Allenspark are now under evac orders.

Two deaths have now been reported as of last night's news broadcasts. An elderly couple refused to evacuate the home in Grand Lake that had been in their family for generations, and they tried to shelter in a concrete bunker on the property. The house was destroyed and they did not survive in the bunker. This is such a devastatingly sad report.

M O R E - INCIWEB More from the inciweb site, with an up-to-date map of the spot fire that jumped the divide.