Spring Creek Fire Update
June 30, 2023

Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team Two
Jared Hohn, Incident Commander

Date Reported: June 24, 2023
Cause: Under Investigation
Size: 2,910 acres
Containment: 21%
Total Personnel: 441
Location: Southwest of Parachute, CO

Current Situation: Firefighters continue full suppression efforts on the Spring Creek Fire. Crews have completed indirect hand line on the northern side of the fire. This “indirect” line is an effective tactic to remove dry vegetation ahead of the fire and slow the fire’s forward progress because of the lack of burnable material. Today, a dozer will continue to improve the indirect line on the northeast side of the fire and crews have begun to improve Dry Creek Road by reducing roadside vegetation. Helicopter water bucket drops work to keep hot areas of the fire from progressing outside of the current fire footprint while hand crews are going direct along the southern fire line. Firefighters continue to seek any heat around the western side of the fire and are gaining containment. The fire had minimal growth overnight while night shift continues to monitor conditions and fire behavior.

Spring Creek Road and High Mesa Road are open to local traffic only. Please avoid these areas if possible and drive with caution with increase in fire personnel on the roadway.

Weather & Smoke Information: An inversion will be in place this morning and is expected to lift around 10 a.m. Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-high 70s. Additional mostiure is expected to move into the region that will keep the realative humidity and will bring potential dry thunderstorms across western Colorado that may bring gusty winds. 5-10 mph winds are expected out of the northwest but will remain lighter in the speed than previous days. Temperatures tonight are expected to drop int the lows 50s and realtive humidity is expected to peak at 50%. Another inversion will form overnight. The Spring Creek Fire is producing smoke that may affect air quality. For information on current air quality and related health concerns, visit garfield-county.com/air-quality or fire.airnow.gov.

Closures: Bureau of Land Management Colorado River Valley Field Office and US Forest Service White River National Forest have public land closure orders in place for the safety of public and firefighters.

Visit BLM Colorado River Valley Field Office and U.S. Forest Service – White River for closure orders.

Evacuations: There are no evacuations at this time. Residents are encouraged to register with Garfield County's emergency notification system at: Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority (garco911.com). All evacuation orders will be conducted through the Sheriff's office. Call recorded message line at 970-981-3401 for current evacuation information

Temporary Flight Restrictions: There is a TFR (FDC 3/7086) in place for air space over the Spring Creek Fire to reduce impacts to fire aviation operators. Fire aviation response is halted or delayed if an unauthorized aircraft enters the TFR. Temporary flight restrictions also apply to unmanned aircraft system (UAS) or drones. If you fly, we can’t!

Fire Information Phoneline: (970) 414-1772 Time: 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Facebook: Spring Creek Fire 2023 Email: 2023.springcreek@firenet.gov InciWeb: Spring Creek Fire Information

Upcoming Actions: There is minimal fire activity today with some creeping and smoldering. Crews are working to mop up the western edge, cooling any hotspots. Suppression repair and rehabilitation continues as crews work to reduce erosion, reseed where needed, fix fences and close dozer lines. With fire activity decreasing, management of the fire will be turned over to the El Rito Ranger District of the Carson National Forest on Saturday. The incident complexity level of the fire will drop to Type 4 from Type 3. 

The Northern New Mexico Type 3 Incident Management Team and Incident Commanders Luke McLarty and Steven Griego would like to thank the public for their hospitality and support during their stay in El Rito. This will be the final update from the team unless significant changes occur. 

Smoke: The fire is showing minimal smoke. There may be some interior pockets of fuel that continue to creep and smolder, leading to some smoke showing over the next few days. Smoke may be visible from Canjilon, Abiquiu, El Rito and as far as Santa Fe and Taos. It may impact the communities of Abiquiu, El Rito, Medenales, Hernandez and the Española Valley. Temporary smoke monitors have been placed at the El Rito Ranger Station, Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu and the Chevron station in Hernandez. Air quality data is available from the Fire and Smoke Map at fire.airnow.gov. 

Closure: Temporary partial road closures on Forest Roads 137 and 20 remain in effect. 

Fast Facts Size: 1,974 acres 

Cause: Lightning 

Fuels: Ponderosa pine and mixed conifer

Values at risk: Cultural/historical sites. 

Percent Completed: 75% 

Resources: 1 hand crew, 2 wildland fire modules, 4 engines, 1 grader, 1 excavator, 2 water tender, 1 REMS teams, total 81 personnel

Una reunión comunitaria se llevará a cabo el viernes 30 de junio a las 6 de la tarde en las facilidades del Distrito de Protección contra Incendios de Grand Valley.

La dirección de la facilidad es 124 Stone Quarry Road.

La reunión también se transmitirá en vivo en la página de Facebook de Spring Creek Fire si prefiere verla virtualmente desde su casa.

https://www.facebook.com/SpringCreekFire2023/

Los funcionarios proporcionarán información y actualizaciones sobre el incendio de Spring Creek.

Esperamos que puedan unirse con nosotros.

Storage Fire

June 30, 2023

9:00 a.m.

Size: 1000 acres

Containment: 30%

Start Date: June 28, 2023

Cause: Under Investigation, Human Caused

Evacuations: There are Mandatory Evacuations in place for the communities of Gaines Bend, Sportsman's World, and Hell's Gate. Residents should stay out of these areas as fire crews will be continuing to work in them with Bulldozers, Aircraft, and Engines.

There is a TFR in place over the Storage Fire currently and no aircraft, including drones, are allowed in the area. It is important for everyone to remember that if you fly, we can’t.

Last night fire personnel were able to build containment lines around large portions of the new growth but were not able to completely line parts of the fire. Additionally several contingency lines, additional lines constructed outside of the initial containment line in case the fire jumps the containment line, were constructed around parts of the fire. Engine crews were able to mop up several areas around the head of the fire and closest to the evacuated neighborhoods

This morning fire crews are going back to work to finish constructing containment lines directly next to the fire edge to try and stop any further spread. Additional engine strike teams from TIFMAS and several neighboring counties have arrived on scene and are going to be working today to continue mopping-up, or putting out any active flames and heat sources they can find. Aerial resources are going to be utilized heavily this morning to further help reduce the chance of this fire jumping containment lines again. Large Air tankers will drop Fire Retardant, a chemical designed to slow fire spread, in front of the head of the fire to give crews more time to construct containment lines. Also, two helicopters from Texas Military Department will be on-scene today using buckets to drop water on any hot areas of the fire edge.

We can confirm that an outbuilding was damaged yesterday afternoon during the fire’s spread. No injuries have been reported at this time.

Spring Creek Fire Community Meeting, Friday, June 30, 6 pm, Grand Valley Fire Protection District, Parachute, Colorado

A community meeting will be held on Friday, June 30 at 6 p.m. at the Grand Valley Fire Protection District facility, Parachute, Colorado. The address is 124 Stone Quarry Road.

The meeting will also be live streamed on the Spring Creek Fire Facebook page if you prefer to watch it virtually from home. 

https://www.facebook.com/SpringCreekFire2023

Officials will provide information and updates regarding the Spring Creek Fire.

We hope you join us. 

June 28, 2023 — As part of a stewardship agreement between the USDA Forest Service and the Upper Mokelumne River Watershed Authority (UMRWA), hazardous fuel reduction is expected to begin this summer on a 25,671-acre project within the Amador Ranger District of the Eldorado National Forest. This project, called “Forest Projects Plan Phase 1”, is designed to help prevent high-intensity wildfires, improve forest conditions, protect important wildlife habitat and other forest resources, and protect a water supply that serves approximately 1.5 million people. Funding to start the work is being provided by two grants that UMRWA received from CAL Fire -- a $5 million Wildfire Resilience grant and a $7 million Forest Health grant.

“Catastrophic wildfire in this watershed can severely degrade the water supply for communities in Amador, Calaveras, San Joaquin, Alameda and Contra Costa counties,” said John Coleman, Chair of UMRWA’s Board of Directors. “This project is the next step in a longstanding collaboration with the Forest Service and many other stakeholders who want to protect this watershed.”

Richard Farrington, UMWRA and Amador Water Agency Board Member added, “Implementation of the Phase 1 work will reduce the risk of a mega fire in wildland urban interface areas which is critical for community protection.”

Collaboration to develop the project included the Amador-Calaveras Consensus Group, a community-based group of diverse stakeholders that works to create fire-safe communities, healthy forests and watersheds, and sustainable local economies. The Sierra Nevada Conservancy provided funding for project planning.

The treatments that will be done on the landscape are designed to slow wildfire spread by reducing ladder fuels. They will also improve firefighter safety and effectiveness at controlling wildfire. Non-commercial vegetation treatments and prescribed burning activities will enhance and protect a variety of habitats including mature forest ecosystems, aquatic ecosystems, and aspen stands. The treatments will enhance forest health by reducing competition for resources in dense forested stands and other habitats that have been diminished due to conifer encroachment from lack of fire.

“UMRWA’s ability to secure grant funding and manage contracting as part of our stewardship agreement expands our capacity to get work done on a larger scale,” said Linda Helm, Amador District Ranger on the Eldorado National Forest.

Future plans for Phase 2 of this project will be larger in scope and will include lands in both the Amador Ranger District of the Eldorado National Forest and the Calaveras Ranger District of the Stanislaus National Forest.

A summary of treatments to be completed in Forest Projects Plan Phase 1 is as follows:

Treatment Activity / Approximate Acreage

Mechanical Fuels Reduction -14,537

Mechanical Fuels Reduction Plus Prescribed Burning - 4,715

Prescribed Burning -1,888

Aspen Restoration -172

Aspen Restoration Plus Prescribed Burning -22

Hand Thinning Only - 4,337

Total Acreage 25,671

###

Date: June 29, 2023

File Code: 5330
From: Danelle Harrison, Forest Supervisor
Re: Forest Order No. 05-12-55-23-05, Thomas Prescribed Fire Closure Order

Pursuant to 16 U.S.C. § 551 and 36 C.F.R. § 261.50(a) and (b), and to provide for public safety, I have decided to issue Forest Order 05-12-55-23-05 authorizing a temporary closure of the Thomas Mountain Prescribed Burn Closure Area, along with certain roads and trails (collectively, the “Closures”). The Closures are depicted on the map in Exhibit A and described in Exhibit B.

On the afternoon of June 15, 2023, a planned prescribed fire was initiated starting at the Toolbox Springs Yellow Post Sites on the San Jacinto Ranger District off National Forest System Route (NFSR) 6S13. The prescribed fire location is located on National Forest System Lands southwest of State Route 74, south of Lake Hemet, and northeast of the Ramona Band of Cahuilla Reservation. The legal description is provided in the Forest Order, Exhibit B. The area within the prescribed fire boundary includes NFSR 6S13 across to NFSR 5S15 and back down to State Route 74. The burn area included the Toolbox Springs Yellow Post Sites and the Ramona Trail and Trailhead.

The Thomas Mountain prescribed fire encompasses approximately 2,500 burned and mechanically treated acres. The Closures are a necessary urgency to:

• Monitor containment and control of the burn.
• Provide for public safety within the prescribed fire footprint where fire may continue to smolder for an unknown amount of time.
• Complete prescribed fire mop-up efforts to continue to extinguish undetected hot spots.
• Allow assigned fire crews to safely travel and work on identified roads and trails.
• Evaluate and implement post-fire rehabilitation work.
• Recognize this area as highly used by the recreational visitors.
• Holiday of July 4th may also contribute to higher visitor use.
• Weather forecast is progressing to be hotter and dryer conditions for supporting new ignitions in the area.

This Forest Order includes an exemption for persons with a Forest Permit for Use of Roads, Trails, or Areas Restricted by Regulation or Order (Form FS-7700-48). Authorization under this exemption will only be provided if I or my delegate determine that the risk to personal health and safety is reasonable considering the circumstances of the request. We may also require as a condition of the exemption approval that exempted persons utilize appropriate personal protective equipment and take other necessary safety measures.

Scoping regarding this temporary closure involved discussions with multiple local and state agency cooperators. I have concluded that this decision may be categorically excluded from documentation in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or Environmental Assessment (EA) under the National Environmental Policy Act. This action falls within the category identified in 36 C.F.R. § 220.6(d)(l) – prohibitions to provide short-term resource protection or to protect public health and safety – and does not require documentation in a decision memo, decision notice, or record of decision. I have determined that there are no extraordinary circumstances associated with this temporary closure. Implementation of this decision may begin immediately.

Placer County Water managers and civic leaders visited the French Meadows Reservoir Dam today and also viewed the French Meadows RX burn project conducted to increase the health of the watershed. Participants were able to speak to firefighters about what it takes to plan and conduct prescription burning which mimics the positive effects of natural wildfire on the landscape.

The French Meadows RX continues to be monitored while heat remains in the interior.

Placer County Water managers and civic leaders visited the French Meadows Reservoir Dam today and also viewed the French Meadows RX burn project conducted to increase the health of the watershed. Participants were able to speak to firefighters about what it takes to plan and conduct prescription burning which mimics the positive effects of natural wildfire on the landscape.

The French Meadows RX continues to be monitored while heat remains in the interior.

June 29, 2023

Size: 15 acres
Containment: 75%
Date Started: June 29, 2023
Cause: Railroad, human-caused

Texas A&M Forest Service Dozers have completed containment line around the fire, stopping forward progression. Local fire departments continue to protect structures and fight interior fires. Three structures have been destroyed, several others were directly threatened, and Broadway Ave and State Highway 70 remain closed. Blue Bonnet RV Park still remains under evacuation orders.