Editor's note: This story is no longer being updated. We have updates from Sunday, Aug. 4, in a separate story.
As crews face another day fighting the Alexander Mountain Fire, we're here to keep you informed on evacuation order changes, the fire's growth and containment, and more.
Updates from Saturday, Aug. 3, were shared in this story. The most recent updates were added to the top of the below section. We'll share Sunday's updates in a new story.
Larimer County Sheriff's Office 'actively working' to shrink evacuation orders
As crews gain more containment of the Alexander Mountain Fire, Larimer County Sheriff's Office says it is "actively working to reduce our evacuation footprint" as well as credential residents of areas under evacuation orders to visit their properties.
"We want to get people home," Undersheriff Joe Shellhammer said in a news release Saturday night, adding that evacuees should "pay attention" to notifications sent out about changes. You can also view current evacuation orders in a map on nocoalert.org.
Information about credentialing will be shared with residents in the Storm Mountain and Cedar Park areas "over the next few days," according to the release, which states:
"Credentials are used to allow residents into fire-impacted areas while that area might still be under evacuation orders. Larimer County is working to set up locations for residents to receive those credentials, and we will share further information as soon as possible. Dates and times for residents to go into the fire-impacted areas are still yet to be determined."
— Sarah Kyle
Damage assessment teams working to confirm additional structure damage
Damage assessment teams plan to start confirming additional structure damage that happened earlier in the fire on Sunday, Larimer County Sheriff's Office said in a Saturday night news release.
Those teams "have not been able to assess all of the damaged properties in fire-impacted areas," according to the release. "With safety as our first concern, these teams will go in and finish their assessments as soon as it is safe to do so. The plan is to start first thing tomorrow morning. With that in mind, additional damage notifications may be made. This is NOT new damage."
Those teams have already confirmed that 25 homes and 20 outbuildings had been lost and four homes had been damaged by the fire, though the sheriff's office was still working to get in contact with some property owners to notify them of the damage.
Saturday, the sheriff's office said it was still asking property owners with property on Cedar Creek Road, Spruce Mountain Drive, Green Ridge Road, Possum Court, Palisade Mountain Drive, Snow Top Drive and Bobcat Drive to share their current contact information with the Damage Assessment Center.
You can call the center at 970-980-2800 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The sheriff's office clarified that not all properties on the listed roads were damaged.
— Sarah Kyle
Fire line near Drake key to stopping westward spread
LOVELAND – Operations section chief Jayson Coil said fire crews would be working hard throughout the weekend to complete a critical containment line on the southwestern corner of the fire.
That line runs from Loveland Fire and Rescue Authority Station No. 9 on Palisade Mountain Drive in the Cedar Park subdivision northeast of Drake into Bobcat Gulch, where Storm Mountain Drive meets Larimer County Road 43 (Glen Haven Road) just west of Drake.
Containment along that line will provide protection for homes in the nearby Storm Mountain subdivision as well as the communities of Drake and Glen Haven. A hotshot crew has been building a containment line by hand on a steep slope from a previously established firebreak off Snow Top Drive that is nearly complete to U.S. Highway 34, Coil said. And other crews are building lines between structures that were protected in the Cedar Park subdivision to establish a containment line between that previously established firebreak and the fire station.
Completing that line is a top priority this weekend, Coil said.
“If we lose that, we lose everything,” he said. “... If we get that hole plugged, and get things tied in up there to Cedar Park, we will prevent the western movement of that fire.”
— Kelly Lyell
Alexander Mountain Fire crews reach 32% containment
LOVELAND – Crews fighting the Alexander Mountain Fire made significant progress Saturday, limiting additional growth to just 138 acres and increasing containment to 32%, incident commander Carl Schwope said at a media briefing. The fire is now 9,668 acres.
No additional structures were damaged, and the threat to homes in the area was reduced significantly, officials said at the briefing.
Joe Shellhammer, Larimer County’s undersheriff, said evacuation orders will be rescinded later Saturday and into Sunday for several areas.
“Those numbers show a lot of success,” said Schwope, incident commander for Southwest Area Incident Management Team 1, which is overseeing firefighting operations. “Fire crews have had tremendous success.”
The additional containment was primarily along U.S. Highway 34 in the lower portion of Big Thompson Canyon and on the fire’s eastern edge, stretching from Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch northward to a ridgeline just west of Masonville, operations section chief Jayson Coil said.
Smaller areas of containment were also established on the fire’s western edge, in the Cedar Park subdivision, where the sheriff's office previously announced that 25 homes had been lost and four others damaged by the fire. That damage occurred earlier in the week, Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen said, but was not reported until after damage assessment teams had been able to survey the area.
Additional structures were likely damaged earlier in the week, too, Shellhammer said. There are two roads in the Cedar Park area that damage assessment teams have not yet been able to safely access. Fire crews successfully protected most homes in the area, Shellhammer said.
"A high majority of them are still undamaged and well and OK, and vehicles (too), I would say," Shellhammer said. "I don't think I can put a percentage on there but more than 90%."
"The crews did amazing jobs. The houses that I have no idea how they got saved, those crews saved them."
— Kelly Lyell
Horsetooth Reservoir open, Carter Lake still closed
Horsetooth Reservoir has reopened to recreational use, Larimer County Sheriff's Office said in a post on X just before 11:30 a.m. Saturday.
Carter Lake is still closed to boating and other water recreation because it is being used by aircraft working the fire. Camping is allowed at Carter Lake, according to a Larimer County Natural Resources Facebook post Saturday.
"ALL RECREATORS: Please be advised the fire is an ever-evolving incident which may precipitate future recreation closures," the post reads. "Thank you for your patience during this dynamic situation and support for those fighting the fire!"
Larimer County Natural Resources also shared these updates in its post:
- Devil's Backbone Open Space/Blue Sky Trail are open.
- The Natural Resources Administrative Office, 1800 S. Larimer County Road 31 in Loveland, is returned to regular hours Saturday and will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily.
- Flatiron and Pinewood reservoirs are still closed.
You can see status updates for parks and open spaces on COTREX and current evacuation orders for the Alexander Mountain Fire on nocoalert.org.
— Sarah Kyle
Watch Alexander Mountain Fire incident command team's morning update on the fire, plan for Saturday
Southwest Area Incident Management Team 1, which is in command of the Alexander Mountain Fire, shared an update on specific areas of the fire Saturday morning. You watch the full operational briefing on YouTube. The video is also embedded at the end of this entry.
Brandon Woodward, the operations section chief who gave Saturday morning's operational update, said crews are working Saturday to "box in" the southwest corner of the fire with a firing operation.
"That doesn't mean we're just indiscriminately lighting fire," Woodward said. "What we're doing is we're basically keeping up with the fire's progress. So, we've created control line and as ... the fire works its way across there, we're going to continue to follow it — and that keeps it from making big runs and throwing spot fires across our control lines."
Woodward said point protection in the Cedar Park area went "really good" Friday and said crews will work Saturday to “piece together those dots."
"Where we protected homes, now we’re going to get into there and create actual containment of the fire by connecting the dots," Woodward said.
As of Woodward's update, 327 personnel were working the fire with "a continued increase in resources" expected.
— Sarah Kyle
Colorado fires, ozone levels continue to worsen air quality
Smoke from the Alexander Mountain Fire and Stone Canyon Fire will continue to impact air quality Saturday, the Coloradoan Air Pollution Control Division announced in a Saturday morning news release.
The division issued an air quality health advisory for southeastern Larimer County and northeastern Boulder County Saturday, "including but not limited to" these locations:
- Loveland
- Lyons
- Berthoud
- Longmont
The advisory remains in effect until 9 a.m. Sunday and references both smoke impacts and increased ozone levels, noting that "the presence of multiple pollutants increases concerns for health impacts in these areas on Saturday and Sunday."
It recommends that "active children and adults, and people with lung disease, such as asthma, should avoid prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion; everyone else, especially children, should reduce prolonged or heavy outdoor exertion."
You can see air conditions statewide on the state's air quality website. As of 8 a.m., the overall air quality index for the Fort Collins-Greeley area was moderate. Saturday morning's air quality forecast for Fort Collins predicts fine particulate pollution will be at moderate levels Saturday and Sunday and ozone levels will be unhealthy for sensitive groups both days.
— Sarah Kyle
Morning updates from incident command: Alexander Mountain Fire 'has still not crossed' US 34, new size reported
The Alexander Mountain Fire is now reported at 9,530 acres with 5% containment, per a morning update from Southwest Area Incident Management Team 1.
That update brought continued good news regarding crews' efforts to protect more structures and keep the fire from crossing U.S. Highway 34: "There were no additional structures damaged by the fire overnight and the fire has still not crossed Highway 34."
Late Friday, Larimer County Sheriff's Office announced that 25 homes and 20 outbuildings were destroyed and four homes were damaged by the Alexander Mountain Fire as it burned in the "immediate area of Palisade Mountain Drive and Snow Top Drive" this week.
The fire was active overnight, "slowly flanking to the west," per the incident command team's Saturday update, and is expected to be active Saturday. Fire crews have finished "a critical portion of the fire line near Storm Mountain Road in preparation for a burnout," according to the incident command team.
On Saturday, crews will remain focused on watching and patrolling fire line "in and around Cedar Park" and extinguishing hotspots, the update said, noting that more than 5 miles of handline are in place on the east side of the fire.
Saturday morning's update also included a plea for drone pilots to keep drones away from the fire: "Please remember the use of unauthorized, uncrewed/unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones, in a fire area endangers the lives of pilots and firefighters. Never fly uncrewed aircraft over or near a fire."
— Sarah Kyle
Alexander Mountain Fire size, containment
As of a 6:19 a.m. Facebook post from the incident command team, the Alexander Mountain Fire's reported size was 9,375 acres with 5% containment. Those numbers were initially shared Friday afternoon and reiterated on the official Facebook page for the Alexander Mountain Fire on Saturday morning.
Similar to efforts shared by the command team Friday (you can read more about those in an earlier entry in this story), Saturday's firefighting efforts will be focused on "holding and improving line north of Highway 34 and near Cedar Park," according to the post.
— Sarah Kyle
Confirmed structure damage includes 25 homes destroyed, 4 damaged
Twenty-five homes and 20 outbuildings were destroyed and four homes were damaged by the Alexander Mountain Fire as it burned in the "immediate area of Palisade Mountain Drive and Snow Top Drive" this week, Larimer County Sheriff's Office confirmed Friday.
While some property owners have been notified, "we have not been able to contact everyone," the sheriff's office said in a news release.
In its release, it asked for that property owners on several roads reach out if they have not already been contacted by Larimer County Sheriff John Feyen, who is coordinating with the Larimer County Office of Emergency Management for notifications. Those roads are:
- Cedar Creek Road
- Spruce Mountain Drive
- Green Ridge Road
- Possum Court
- Palisade Mountain Drive
- Snow Top Drive
- Bobcat Drive
The sheriff's office noted that "not all properties on these roads were affected" as Friday's confirmation but asked property owners to call the Damage Assessment Center at 970-980-2800 to confirm their current contact information. That center is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
"If you provide your contact details and do not receive a callback within the next day, your property did not have damage at the time of the assessment," according to the release.
— Sarah Kyle
More:Structures damaged by Alexander Mountain Fire include 25 destroyed homes
Fire crews focus on protecting homes in Cedar Park, near Masonville
Firefighting efforts on the Alexander Mountain Fire were focused Friday on slowing further spread west through the Cedar Park subdivision, preventing it from crossing south of U.S. Highway 34 and protecting homes west of Masonville, fire officials said.
Aircraft dropping water and fire retardant worked primarily in that area both Thursday and Friday, operations section chief Jayson Coil said during a Friday afternoon media briefing near Loveland. The water and retardant won’t stop the fire’s spread, he said, but it reduces the intensity so firefighters on the ground can protect structures and build containment lines.
The protection of individual homes in the Cedar Park subdivision, just to northeast of Drake — a community in Big Thompson Canyon about halfway between Loveland and Estes Park — created a number of firebreaks.
“Now what they’re working on is basically connecting the dots,” said Coil, who is part of Southwest Area Incident Management Team 1, which is overseeing firefighting efforts. “So, you have all those pieces of fire that you put out around the homes, and then you have unburned portions in between them. … A lot of effort is being put into tying those pieces of burned area together to prevent the fire from moving farther west into more of the Cedar Park subdivision.”
The fire is also advancing westward along the north side of U.S. 34, burning parallel to the highway. Crews are protecting homes along the highway, he said, while also trying to establish containment lines that will not only keep the fire from crossing the road to the south, but also to prevent it from burning up the slope to threaten the Cedar Park area from another direction.
Officials are working on contingency plans for what they’ll do if the fire were to cross U.S. 34 as well as planning and preparing to protect homes farther west toward Drake and then beyond to Glen Haven “until such time as we have a high degree of confidence that the fire is secure along Highway 34 and along that whole western edge,” Coil said.
The 5% containment fire officials were reporting Friday is on the southeastern edge, west of Sylvan Dale Ranch near the mouth of Big Thompson Canyon, Coil said.
A handline on the east side of fire above Masonville was tied into Green Ridge, stretching north to the Cameron Peak Fire burn scar, and was holding Friday, Coil said.
“Crews are continuing to control that line and to ensure there’s no rollout, snag, anything that could cross the line and cause the fire to continue to move east above those homes that are situated just over the edge of that ridge and then the larger number of homes that are farther down the slope in Masonville,” Coil said.
Early indications are that the Cameron Peak Fire burn scar will help contain the Alexander Mountain Fire’s northern advance, he said. Scouts have patrolled that area, all the way to Jug Gulch, a drainage that runs north toward Spruce Mountain, and fire crews are using a road in that area as a fire line and patrolling it to make sure nothing crosses it.
“Right now, it looks like (the Cameron Peak Fire burn scar) is going to be an effective control feature, so it’s a big win because it gives us a large area that we don’t have to focus efforts on,” Coil said.
West of Jug Gulch, “where the fire activity was most pronounced yesterday, all the way across the northern edge of the fire until it goes south to the Cedar Park area, that edge of the fire’s also looking really good where it’s bumped into the Cameron Peak Fire.
“So, we’ll continue to patrol it and ensure that it doesn’t move far, but so far all indications are that the Cameron Peak Fire (burn scar) will hold.”
— Kelly Lyell
Alexander Mountain Fire area could see storms this weekend
Though the weekend is expected to bring a chance of rain over the Alexander Mountain Fire, those potential storms could also "bring dry, gusty, and erratic winds," the Southwest Area Incident Management Team 1 said in a Friday evening update on the fire.
"Saturday is expected to remain hot and dry," the update reads. "Rising humidity and passing disturbances will increase the chance for thunderstorm development. Incoming storms could bring dry, gusty, and erratic winds. Thunderstorm potential decreases Saturday with hit or miss rain returning Sunday. Any of these storms may produce heavy winds and rainfall."
— Sarah Kyle
Alexander Mountain Fire grows to more than 9,300 acres, burns additional structures
As of Friday afternoon, the fire had burned 9,375 acres and was 5% contained, said Carl Schwope, incident commander with Southwest Area Incident Management Team 1, which is overseeing firefighting operations. There were 389 personnel assigned to the fire Friday, including three specialized Hot Shot crews of 20 or so members apiece, with two more Hot Shot crews scheduled to arrive that night, he said.
Damage assessment teams from the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office were able to safely get into the areas in the Cedar Park subdivision to determine the number of structures damaged by the fire, and exact addresses, Sheriff Justin Feyen said.
Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that about two dozen structures had been damaged or destroyed by fire Wednesday, and Feyen said another half-dozen or so were damaged Thursday, bringing the total to about 30.
“We did lose yesterday some additional structures,” the sheriff said Friday. “To my knowledge, we did not lose additional ones overnight or into this day.”
Jayson Coil, operations section chief for Southwest Area Incident Management Team 1, said the damage assessment teams were escorted to and from area where structures had burned by fire crews when conditions were safe to do so Friday.
While noting that firefighters were having “some successes in and around Cedar Park and the group of homes there,” Schwope also said the “fire is still in and amongst the homes.”
— Kelly Lyell
