According to the latest update, that blaze's containment percentage remains stuck at somewhere between 20 and 25, with authorities not ready to guess when evacuees can return home.
The good news, says Type 3 information officer Debra Schofield, is that the fire didn't grow overnight. "It's still at 925 acres," she says.
At this point, approximately 349 firefighters from at least sixteen agencies are working the blaze, divided among eight Type 1 crews -- the hot-spot specialists -- and two Type 2 crews of twenty persons apiece, who are charged with cutting line and the like. Other resources include four large helicopters and one medium-sized helicopter, plus 22 engines, five water tenders and one bulldozer. Flights have thus far dropped 97,500 gallons of retardant on the fire.
According to Schofield, the fire "is still burning in steep terrain, with limited access -- woodland areas with grass, junipers and pine trees. And since this has been a wind-and-terrain-driven fire, it's made the fire fight difficult."So, too, has the weather, which has been hot, dry and often windy. Yesterday, however, winds were moderate to light, and that appears to be on the agenda for today as well. Which should raise hopes for evacuees, who still have no idea when they'll be able to return to their homes.
Two homes have been reported destroyed in the fire, along with a number of other structures. Schofield puts the total number of residences evacuated at 350.
At this point, an evacuation center has been established at the Church of Loveland, 3835 Southwest 14th Street in Loveland, and a possible evacuation alert remains in effect for those living in the Storm Mountain, Cedar Park and Bartram Park subdivisions -- but at least no new areas have been added to this list. Also, closures are still in place for all roads above the intersection of County Road 18 East and County Road 31.Regarding a progress report, Schofield says officials "felt like yesterday was a good day" in terms of the battle. With luck, this will be another one.
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