Crews double containment on Williams Fork Fire | SkyHiNews.com
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Crews double containment on Williams Fork Fire

Sky-Hi News staff report
Firefighters with the Rocky Mountain Fire Co. Engine extinguish heat left over from the burn operations that took place Aug. 24 and 25 near the Henderson Mine/ Williams Creek area.
Courtesy Kari Greer

After several days of building up fire line on the Williams Fork Fire, crews have successfully doubled containment, bringing it to 10%.

The fire, which has burned 12,097 acres, is contained on the western side near County Road 30 south to Darling Creek. Rain continued on Saturday, assisting in slowing down fire growth and activity.

In order to ensure the fire’s edge is cold, crews utilized burn operations, constructing control lines and spot fire clean up.



Currently, firefighters are using heavy machinery to thin the area around St. Louis Creek Road, including chipping vegetation, cutting and limbing.

The goal of the work is to use the road, also known as Forest Service Road 160, as a containment line if the fire moves into the St. Louis Creek valley. The work is expected to take several days.



On the east side of the fire, crews continue to use bulldozers, masticators and hand crews to build containment line west of Fraser.

The weather is predicted to begin a drying trend this week, with potential for Red Flag conditions and sustained winds by the end of the week.

On Friday, Grand County’s sheriff lifted pre-evacuation notice for the neighborhoods referred to as “Area 2” on evacuation planning maps.

The areas no longer under pre-evacuation include Aspen Canyon, Morgan Gulch and Henderson areas. The sheriff’s office also opened County Road 3, known as Ute Pass, from Highway 40 near Parshall to Highway 9 in Summit County.

County Road 30 remains closed and the Forest Service closure area around the Williams Fork Fire is still in place.

A fire briefing will be hosted on the Williams Fork Fire Info Facebook page at 5 p.m. Sunday.


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