591-acre Interlaken fire expected to burn for weeks before containment

Lina Portman3 weeks ago

1 2 minutes read

A wildfire is burning south of Leadville in the Interlaken Historic District of Lake County. (Photo courtesy of the United States Forest Service).

The Interlaken Wildfire sparked by a Camp Fire continues to grow in Lake County, reaching a total burned area of 591 acres with minimal containment, firefighters said Saturday.

The flames — which have been burning on U.S. Forest Service land for five days — will continue to spread outward for more than a week, according to Forest Service reports. Currently, the fire is only 15% contained, and firefighters do not expect the fire to be completely contained until June 23.

And confinement does not end forest fires.

Wildfire containment is not the same as a fire being put out: it is the status of a completed line of control around the fire to stop the fire from spreading. Wildfires can burn for days or longer after containment is achieved.

Although the fire's growth is low compared to other wildfires in Colorado, such as the nearly 5,700-acre Spruce Creek Fire started by lightning in May, it is not a small area overall.

By Thursday night, the fire had grown to 6 acres, roughly the size of four and a half football fields. In total, the fire is burning on approximately 448 football fields.

The fire was started by an abandoned campfire about 180 feet from the Interlaken Trail and 1.5 miles from the trailhead, firefighters said.

Investigators believe the Camp Fire was not properly extinguished and burned for several days before sparking the wildfire Tuesday afternoon. Abandoned charcoals, when not taken care of, can retain heat for long periods of time and can reignite if winds pick up.

As of Saturday morning, nearly 300 firefighters were on scene in Interlaken, working to put out the flames and protect historic structures in the area, firefighters said. No buildings in the historic district were damaged.

An aerial video released Saturday morning by the forest service shows the spread of the fire and varying burning intensities in different areas of Interlaken.

“The severity of burns depends on the amount of fuel, weather conditions and topography,” Forest Service officials said in a statement Saturday. “As you can see in the video, some areas burned very hot with high tree mortality, while in other areas the fire burned surface fuels and did not kill many trees. “

On the north side of the fire, the terrain is steep and filled with dead and downed trees, forcing crews to establish a fire line lower down the hillside along the Interlaken Trail and wait for the fire to come up. 'their.

Local search and rescue teams are assisting in firefighting efforts by using boats to transport supplies across the lake to the fire zone, and more helicopters are expected to arrive to help extinguish the flames , the firefighters announced on Friday.

Four helicopters will work to drop water and retardant on the fire over the weekend, officials said.

Interlaken was evacuated Tuesday and pre-evacuation orders remain in effect for Lost Canyon in Lake County, along County Road 30 and in northern Chafee County.

Temporary flight restrictions are in effect over the fire zone to give fire crews room to work – flying outside planes or drones in the area will hamper firefighting efforts and fire crew planes on the ground, firefighters said Saturday.