Single Publication

Saint Charles Fire Update 

Friday, October 27, 2023 – 9:00 a.m. 

Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1 

Dan Dallas, Incident Commander  

Information Phone: 970-628-0130 

Email: 2023.saintcharles@firenet.gov  

Information Staffing Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. 

Current Situation: The Saint Charles Fire is currently 428 acres based on an infrared flight from last night, and containment has increased to 10%.  Infrared is used to detect areas of heat within a fire perimeter and allows fire managers to identify where heat near the fire’s edge could threaten containment efforts.  A night shift is in place and continues to patrol the fire through the night to ensure firelines hold.  

Division A: Using a combination of direct and indirect fireline and natural features, firefighters have made good progress on completing containment lines along the northern perimeter of the fire to the Division A/T break.  They will continue to secure and improve these lines to work towards containment on the north. 

Division T:  This is a new division on the east side of the fire. This portion of the fire is in steep terrain and difficult to access.  Fire managers will be scouting this area to look for potential containment opportunities that will minimize risk to firefighters and provide a high probability of success.  

Division D: Containment has been achieved on a portion of the fireline in this division.   Firefighters will continue to hold and improve existing lines and identify potential fireline locations working eastward towards the Division D/K break. 

Division K: Existing roads and dozer lines are being improved and will be used as contingency lines in the event the fire moves south towards Lower Snowslide.  Masticators will be used to remove fuels along this contingency line to create a break in vegetation and provide a defensible holding feature for firefighters. 

Structure Protection: Structure assessments have been mostly completed around the fire area.  The assessments will be put into a database and provide information about the defensibility of structures in the event the Saint Charles or future fire may threaten the area. The structure protection group has reported that the communities are well prepared if fire conditions change. 

Weather,  Fuels, and Fire Behavior:  

A cold front moved through last night bringing higher humidities and cooler temperatures to the fire area. Today 's highs will be about 10-15 degrees cooler than yesterday, with afternoon highs in the mid to low 50s. Winds are predicted to be generally southerly shifting to southeast 10-15 mph with gusts to 20 mph. Relative humidity will be substantially higher today than the last several days which will also help moderate fire behavior.  

Evacuations, Closures, and Fire Restrictions: 

Simonson Meadows in Pueblo County and Aspen Acres, Tara J, and the San Isabel area in Custer County remain on pre-evacuation notice. To sign up for emergency alerts please visit https://www.custercounty-co.gov/ (Custer County) or https://www.pueblosheriff.com/242/Emergency-Telephone-Notification (Pueblo County). 

Pueblo County implemented a burn ban on October 24, 2023.  More information can be found at https://www.pueblosheriff.com/162/Emergency-Management. Custer County initiated Stage 1 fire restrictions on October 24, 2023.  More information can be found at https://www.custercounty-co.gov/. 

An Area Closure is in place for the fire area on the San Carlos Ranger District of the Pike-San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron and Comanche National Grasslands (PSICC). For additional information, visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/psicc/alerts-notices. 

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

Fire Statistics: 

Size:  428 acres  

Containment: 10% 

Total Personnel: 320 

Location: 7 Miles SW of Beulah, CO 

Reported: October 14, 2023 

Cause: lightning 

For More Information: 

  Information Phone: 970-628-0130 (public) 

                                  719-470-0459 (media) 

  Email: 2023.saintcharles@firenet.gov 

  InciWeb: https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident-information/copsf-saint-charles-fire 

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/SaintCharlesFire 

  YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@SaintCharlesFireInformation 

  Text Alerts: Text SaintCharlesFire to 77295. Text and data rates apply.