Per the Chaffee County Sheriff's Facebook Page:
An Evacuation Resource Center has been set up for evacuees in both Chaffee and Fremont Counties.  It is located at the United Methodist Church in Salida, located at  228 E. 4th Street.  All evacuees are asked to go to the resource center to check in and to obtain further information.  Thank You.

 Evacuation orders have been made in Chaffee and Fremont Counties.  Please see the announcements below.

 Attn. Residents of Bear Creek, Silver Heels Drive and the two residents on the private drive just west of Silver Heels Drive; this is an immediate evacuation notice. Bear Creek, Silver Heels drive and the two residences in the private driveway just west of Silver Heels Drive please evacuate immediately. All others are still under pre-evacuation notice but should be ready to leave at a moments notice

 #Deckerfire update

Due to increased fire activity the communities of Wellsville and Swissvale are now on EVACUATION status as of 1417hrs.

Due to increasing fire behavior, the Fremont County Sheriff's Office has placed Wellsville and Swissvale on pre-evacuation status.  Evacuation questions should be directed to the Fremont County Sheriff's office.  719-276-7416

Update on the Decker Fire:
Just after 12 Noon, the fire jumped the Rainbow Trail near Bear Creek in Division T. This happened as crews were working on lines to hold the fire west of the trail. The fire is burning northeast in the Bear Creek area. Firefighters have been pulled from the line.
An air tanker has been requested to drop retardant.  We'll continue to update everyone as we receive the information.

There will be a community meeting in Howard on Monday, October 14th at 6pm.  It will be at the Howard Volunteer Fire Station.  Leaders of the Rocky Mountain Type 1 incident management team and officials from Fremont County will be there to answer questions about the fire and pre-evacuation.  

October 13, 2019 (10 a.m.)

Fire Statistics:

Location: Fire started 9 miles south of, and is now burning 2 miles south of Salida, CO  Start Date: September 8, 2019

Size: 7,326 acres Percent Contained: 30

Total Personnel: 755 Cause:  Lightning

Resources Include: 8 Type-1 hand crews, 10 Type-2 hand crews, 27 engines, 4 dozers, 9 water tenders

Special notes: A Red Flag Warning has been issued for the fire area again today from 11 am to 8 pm, because of expected gusty winds, extremely low humidity and warm temperatures. Please drive with caution as crews are continuing to backhaul hose line, pumps and portable water tanks from locations where the equipment is no longer needed.

Weather: Critical fire weather conditions are forecast for today. Maximum temperatures across the fire will reach 52-57 degrees, with clear skies.  Humidity levels will drop to as low as 5%, with an average range of 5-10% across the fire. Strong west-southwest winds will kick up late in the morning, with gusts up to 35 mph in the slopes and valleys, and 35-40 mph on ridge tops. Heavy winds are forecast to continue throughout the day and early evening.

Current Situation: In the northeast, Division T firefighters initiated a large ground ignition operation along the edge of the Rainbow Trail fire line. Crews are working to burn a 3-mile-long stretch, which will strengthen the fire line by removing fuels from between the fire's edge and the line. Helicopters delivered bucket drops of water to help prevent the ignited fuels from crossing the trail. In Division W, a spot fire near Simmons Peak at the southeast corner of the fire grew in size and intensity yesterday. The fire is burning in a high, remote area and is being monitored. In Division A/X, Helicopter water drops were used to help cool an interior fire burning southeast of Methodist Mountain. That fire is consuming unburned fuel within the current fire boundary. Also in Division A/X, firefighters completed new sections of containment line along the west edge of the fire. 

Today, the ground ignition operation along the Rainbow Trail in Division T will continue as conditions become favorable. Crews will be working toward each other from the north and south. This effort involves multiple ground crews, engines, and support from aerial operations. Chipping operations will take place along CR 101, as part of the effort to disperse fuels cut along the contingency line. In Division W, work will continue on new dozer line that will stretch further east from the division.

Division A/X and Division R will be working to patrol, secure line, mop-up and backhaul equipment. Crews will also focus on executing the Fire Suppression Repair plan. The plan is intended to restore, as much as possible, the natural conditions of vegetation, topography, and viewshed. These tasks include a series of immediate post-fire actions taken to repair impacts to the land from fire suppression tactics. The repair will minimize the impacts of soil erosion, transport of sediment into waterways and the negative impacts to wildlife including threatened and endangered species.

Structure Group will to monitor structures to the east in the Howard area and help with backhauling. The Night Shift will continue to monitor established fire lines. Several days of high winds, low humidities and clear skies have increased the probability of ignition for pockets of fuel in and near the fire. Crews will be extra vigilant when patrolling.

Closures and Public Safety: There are road closures in Chaffee, Fremont and Saguache County. Please respect closures. San Isabel Forest closures: https://tinyurl.com/SanIsabelClosures. Rio Grande Forest closures: https://tinyurl.com/RioGrandeClosures. BLM closures: Facebook @BLMColoradFire and https://tinyurl.com/BLMCLosure. For evacuation information, please contact the Chaffee County Sherriff’s Office: 719-539-2596, or Fremont County Emergency Management: 719-276-7416, 719-276-7418 or go to the Chaffee County Sheriff or Fremont County Sheriff Facebook pages and websites. 

October 12, 2019 (10 a.m.)

Special notes: Due to warmer temperatures, low humidity, and gusting winds, there will be a Red Flag Warning only over the fire today from 12:00 to 8:00 pm. Please drive with caution as firefighters are starting to backhaul over 100,000’ of hose, 150 pumps and 140 pumpkins (portable water tanks). Backhaul begins in neighborhoods where fire managers are confident that the fire threat has diminished.

Weather: Across the fire area today, skies will be clear with max temps 49-54 degrees. A minimum humidity of 6-10% with winds from the WSW 10-15 mph and gusts 25-35 mph will continue to dry the fuels. The extremely low humidity of 7% at Bear Creek early in the day will result in fuels being more receptive to fire earlier. Most visible smoke from yesterday was from firefighters burning out pockets of fuel to reinforce fireline.

Current Situation: On Division R, firefighters are monitoring the NW side of the fire that has been designated ‘minimal threat-limited action’ and back hauling structure protection equipment from the communities to the north. Near the east side at the Rainbow Trail crews will monitor fire line when the burn operation is implemented in Division T. 

To the NE in Division T, chippers are completing work along CR 101. Friday, fire managers completed trials with plastic sphere dispensers (PSDs) to test receptivity of fuels. It was determined that the fuels were not ready to successfully implement the burn plan. Today the fuels are expected to be receptive; however, the burn tactics have been adjusted due to gusting winds.  Crews will perform ground ignition to remove fuels between the fire’s edge and the Rainbow Trail contingency line. Seven crews and four engines will implement the burn plan using drip torches to lay fire on the ground and flare pistols to ignite fuels farther from the trail. Air resources will be available to assist as needed.

In Division W on the SE two hotshot crews will continue clean up of large downed trees near the fire line along Muddy Creek. To mitigate risks involved when working in remote, difficult terrain, a Rapid Extraction Module (REM) is staged on the Rainbow Trail. 

Division X was monitored yesterday with no issues noted and Division A firefighters successfully burned fuels from the SE corner of the fire edge near Dorsey Creek. Today Divisions A and X will be combined (Division A/X) and will be working to patrol, mop-up and backhaul as needed. An excavator is knocking down hazard trees as fire suppression repair tasks begin.

Structure Group will be divided between backhauling equipment and monitoring structures to the east when the burn plan is being implemented. The Night shift continues to monitor established fire lines.

Closures and Public Safety: There are road closures in Chaffee, Fremont and Saguache County. Please respect closures. San Isabel Forest closures: https://tinyurl.com/SanIsabelClosures. Rio Grande Forest closures: https://tinyurl.com/RioGrandeClosures. BLM closures: Facebook @BLMColoradFire and https://tinyurl.com/BLMCLosure. For evacuation information, please contact the Chaffee County Sherriff’s Office: 719-539-2596, or Fremont County Emergency Management: 719-276-7416, 719-276-7418 or go to the Chaffee County Sheriff or Fremont County Sheriff Facebook pages and websites. 

Fire Statistics:

Location: Fire started 9 miles south of, and is now burning 2 miles south of Salida, CO  Start Date: September 8, 2019

Size: 7,105 acres Percent Contained: 15

Total Personnel: 851 Cause:  Lightning

Resources Include: 10 Type-1 hand crews, 12 Type-2 hand crews, 32 engines, 4 dozers, 10 water tenders

Air Resources: 3 Type-1 (K-MAX, Blackhawk, Chinook), 1 Type-2, and 2 Type 3, and 2 fixed-wing aircraft 

 At 4pm today, October 12th, the Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment issued a smoke advisory for areas near the Decker Fire.  Please see below.

 
 Air Quality Health Advisory for Wildfire Smoke

Issued for portions of central and southern Colorado
Issued at 4:00 PM MDT, Saturday, October 12, 2019

Issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

Affected Area: southeastern Chaffee and northwestern Fremont Counties, including, but not limited to the communities of Salida, Cleora, Wellsville, Howard, Coaldale, and Cotopaxi.

Advisory in Effect: 4:00 PM MDT, Saturday, October 12, 2019 to 4:00 PM MDT, Sunday, October 13, 2019. .

Public Health Recommendations: If smoke is thick or becomes thick in your neighborhood you may want to remain indoors. This is especially true for those with heart disease, respiratory illnesses, the very young, and the elderly. Consider limiting outdoor activity when moderate to heavy smoke is present. Consider relocating temporarily if smoke is present indoors and is making you ill. If visibility is less than 5 miles in smoke in your neighborhood, smoke has reached levels that are unhealthy.

Outlook: Prolonged periods of moderate to heavy smoke are expected Saturday into Sunday afternoon from the Decker wildfire, located in far northeast Saguache County approximately 8 miles south of Poncha Springs. Although gusty winds may disperse smoke concentrations across the advisory area Saturday afternoon, smoke is expected to increase Sunday afternoon during the daytime hours. Gusty winds will increase fire activity on both days and overnight smoke will settle in low laying areas east of the fire. Smoke impacts are expected to continue through at least Sunday afternoon. Smoke will generally move to the east of the fire into southeastern Chaffee and northeastern Fremont county line, and could bring periods of heavy smoke to Poncha Springs, Smeltertown, Salida, Cleora, Wellsville, Howard, Coaldale, and Cotopaxi.

Here's an afternoon update on the Decker Fire:

Operations reports that ground ignitions in Division T on the northeast are going as planned. The burn operation will remove fuels between the fire’s edge and the Rainbow Trail contingency line. Crews are using drip torches to lay fire on the ground and flare pistols to ignite fuels farther from the trail. Seven crews and four engines are implementing the burn plan.

On the southeast corner, aerial crews are continuing to closely monitor the existing spot fire that gained in intensity this morning, and has increased in size to about 30 acres (shown in photo). The spot fire is located in remote wilderness area. Based on the advice of the Type 1 incident command team, and as a precaution, the Fremont County Sheriff's Office placed Howard area residents living in Zone 1 and Zone 2 on pre-evacuation status, as a precaution.

A Red Flag warning over the fire area is in effect until 8PM tonight, with strong, gusty winds coming out of the west-southwest

An existing spot fire on the southeast corner of the fire area has increased in size and intensity this morning. High winds from the west are pushing the fire to the east. The spot fire is in a hard-to-reach remote wilderness area.
We have aerial resources over the area, assessing the situation to determine the appropriate actions to employ.
Upon advice of the Type 1 incident management team, Fremont County has just placed Zone 2 of the Howard area on PRE-EVACUATION status as of 11:30 AM today, as a precaution.  Currently, Zones 1 and 2 are under pre-evacuation status.
The attached maps below show the location of the spot fire and the evacuation zones.