Single Publication

Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1
Dan Dallas, Incident Commander

Information Phone: 970-648-4470 (public), 970-765-7123 (media)
Email: 2023.lowline@firenet.gov
Information Staffing Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Current Situation: Yesterday, firefighters saw moderate fire behavior that included some tree torching throughout much of the day. The great work of the last week was further tested by these conditions, giving fire managers boosted confidence for today’s Red Flag Warning followed by Fire Weather Watches on Monday and Tuesday. The work of today will mirror yesterday’s, with fire crews remaining vigilant to changing conditions and observant of fire behavior while conducting routine suppression actions of the last several days. As suppression work requirements shrink, some crews will be positioned to monitor fire behavior and be available to provide additional capacity for the Lowline Fire or rapid response to a new fire start.

Division A/Z: Firelines will be patrolled to ensure they remain secure.   

Division Y: Direct and indirect firelines are established and firefighters will patrol and further secure lines as needed. Across much of this division, fire activity remains minimal due to the large aspen grove. Tomorrow, winds will be from the west, pushing the fire back onto itself.

Division X: Fire managers will continue assessing options for confining the fire in this remote division. 

Division W: Fortunately, firefighters are finding minimal heat sources near the fireline so no additional firing operations are planned. Today, fireline patrols will continue.  

Structure Protection: Structure protection crews will be finalizing structure assessments and packaging them into a report that will be useful to local managers in the event of a future emergency in the area.

Weather & Fuel Conditions:

Fire activity is expected to increase as part of the forecasted Red Flag Warning. The drying of fuels has been accelerated over the past few days with additional drying today from low humidity in the mid teens, sunny skies, warm temperatures in the uppers 70s and windy conditions nearing 30 mph.   

Evacuations, Closures, and Fire Restrictions:

A pre-evacuation order is in effect for CR 727, Mill Creek. No other evacuations or pre-evacuations are in place near the fire.  For evacuation information, see Gunnison County Emergency Management at www.gunnisoncounty.org. You may sign up to receive emergency alerts on your phones or other devices at: https://bit.ly/3QhZVZg .

National Forest area, road, and trail closure: https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fseprd1126172.pdf . BLM temporary closure: https://tinyurl.com/5n8s7xee .

County Roads in the fire vicinity are barricaded. In the interest of public safety, fire officials ask visitors to be aware of fire traffic and avoid the area.

Fire restrictions in Gunnison County: none currently.

Smoke Outlook reports: https://outlooks.airfire.org/outlook/ed63b240 .

Wildfires are a no-fly zone for unauthorized aircraft, including drones. If you fly, we can’t.  For more information, visit http://knowbeforeyoufly.org.

Lowline Fire Statistics:
Size: 1816 acres
Containment: 55%
Total Personnel: 325
Cause: lightning
Location: 14 mi. NNW of Gunnison, CO
Reported: 8:00 am July 26, 2023

For More Information:
Information Phone: 970-648-4470 (public), 970-765-7123 (media)
Email: 2023.lowline@firenet.gov
InciWeb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/cogmf-lowline-fire
Facebook: www.facebook.com/GMUGFireInfo