More Evacuations Ordered In Lake Christine Fire Burning In Eagle County
EAGLE COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - The Lake Christine Fire burning west of the Basalt gun range in Eagle County has burned at least 2,377 acres and was zero percent contained as of Wednesday. More evacuations were ordered Wednesday afternoon.
Mandatory evacuations were ordered for more neighborhoods at 1 p.m. Wednesday, including Homestead Trailer Park, the Wilds (Promontory and Wildsprings) Ridge Road, Pinion and Cedar Drive.
A total of 500 homes are under mandatory evacuation orders.
Mandatory evacuations are still in place for Original Road, Silverado Dr, Hillcrest Drive, Sagewood and the Pineridge area. The evacuation center is at Basalt High School.
New mandatory evacuations were ordered for the El Jebel trailer park and the condos above them. Those residents are told to go to Basalt High School.
The following areas are under a pre-evacuation notice:
Homestead, Sopris, Spur, Tucker Hillside Curtis, Longhorn and all addresses on N side of Midland Ave.
Big and Little Pinyon areas, Sagewood area and the area around the Church of Christ. The Red Cross opened an evacuation center at Basalt High School at 600 Southside Drive in Basalt.
White River National Forest officials have now closed Basalt Mountain, the Cattle Creek area, which includes all of the single-track trails within the Cattle Creek Area, Sawmill Gulch area, the Seven Castles area including Otto Creek and Downey Creek, and all hiking, biking and motorcycle trails between Basalt Mountain and Cottonwood Pass.
LINK: Lake Christine Fire Info
Frying Pan Road is still open; however residents are asked to be prepared to evacuate if necessary.
Tuesday evening, two helicopters were gathering water from the Roaring Fork River west of downtown Basalt.
Two Rivers Road is closed in both directions, according to a Pitkin County alert.
Officials say the fire was caused by people at a shooting range. The suspects are known and have been issued a summons "in lieu of arrest by the Eagle County Sheriff's Department," according to the sheriff.
On Wednesday night, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has authorized the use of federal funds to help with firefighting costs for the Lake Christine Fire.
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