Evacuations ordered as wildfire grows to 1,300 acres in Grand County | SkyHiNews.com
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Evacuations ordered as wildfire grows to 1,300 acres in Grand County

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Amy Golden
  

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8 p.m.: The Williams Fork Fire has grown to at least 1,300 acres and is displaying extreme fire behavior as it continues moving east/northeast toward Church Park, according to the US Forest Service.

The fire has reached the top of Kinney Creek and Darling Creek and is currently holding east of County Road 30 and south of Keyser Creek.

A CodeRED pre-evacuation notice has been issued in the area of County Road 50, 50S, and St Louis Creek Road (County Road 73).

The outline of the Williams Fork Fire as of 6 p.m. Friday provided by the US Forest Service. The fire continues east/northeast toward Church Park.
Courtesy US Forest Service

5:30 p.m.: Mandatory evacuations have been ordered by the Grand County Sheriff for homes in the immediate vicinity of the Williams Fork Fire, not including the Fraser Valley.

The order was issued through CodeRED. As the fire moves east, anyone who feels they may be in the pre-evacuation area should have an overnight bag ready. Evacuees are advised to take necessary items such as regular medications, change of clothes, identification, cash, water and snacks. Don’t forget pets and their food, bowls and medications.

If you have livestock that will need to be moved, contact emergency management at 970-531-1236.

Mandatory evacuations have been ordered by the Grand County Sheriff for homes in the immediate vicinity of the Williams Fork Fire, not currently including the Fraser Valley.
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3:30 p.m.: The Williams Fork Fire has grown to an estimated 250 acres moving east toward Church Park according to the US Forest Service.

County Roads 3 and 30 are closed except to mill traffic, as well as the east side of County Road 50.

The forest service added that the fire is situated in a remote area of the upper Williams Fork Valley that experienced intensive beetle kill in the early 2000s.

The Summit County emergency alert system issued an advisory regarding the fire Friday afternoon asking people not to call 911 to report smoke from the area.

“Please report suspicion of new fires only if you see flames or a localized plume of smoke,” the alert added before reminding people all open fires are currently banned in Summit County and the White River National Forest.

Also, Grand County has enacted Stage 2 fire restrictions.

Original story: A wildfire broke out Friday east of Henderson Mill in Grand County.

The fire is being called the Williams Fork Fire. It’s burning in the southern Williams Fork Valley on US Forest Service land. The fire broke out around 11:30 a.m. and quickly grew from 10 to 20 acres in about an hour.

As of 2 p.m. Friday, helicopters and airplanes were dropping retardant as firefighters on the ground worked to contain the blaze, according to the Grand County Office of Emergency Management.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered on County Road 30, including the Sugarloaf Campground and South Fork Campground. Country Road 30 and Country Road 3 are closed at their junction, just south of Grand County’s border with Summit County.

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