JACKSON COUNTY, Colo. — Southwest winds and warmer temperatures have dried fuels feeding the Beaver Creek wildfire in northern Colorado. It’s burning just south of the Wyoming border and about 15 miles northwest of Walden.
A wavy ribbon cloud was smoke coming from the fire caught in the motion of the flow coming over the mountains. The picture was taken at sunset Wednesday.
The fire has burned 13,275 acres and is 5 percent contained. Additional structure defense preparations were being finalized Monday based on a dry, breezy, warm weather forecast.
Crews are also focused on rehabilitation of existing fire lines to prevent soil erosion next to roads and streams.
They returned from the fire lines reporting wildlife moving back into natural habitats and regrowth of grasses starting in the burn area.
Incident Cmdr. Jay Esperance thanked veterans for their service to the country and their hard work on the Beaver Creek Fire.
While Americans take the opportunity on the Fourth of July to celebrate independence, he also asked firefighters to “thank the community for their support of incident personnel and firefighter safety.”
The fire has moved into a wilderness area and the strategy is to let it burn while monitoring it. Fire managers said it could burn into October.