Williams Fork Fire Shows Little Growth After 2 Days Of Storms

GRAND COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - Despite a second day of afternoon storms brewing over the Williams Fork Fire in Grand County, the acreage remained stable.

"Yesterday we had afternoon thunderstorms come in and park right over the fire, and we had about a 2,000-acre growth, so we would anticipate the same behavior today," Robyn Broyles, Public Information Officer for the Williams Fork fire, said Thursday.

As Broyles predicted, the winds picked up significantly Thursday afternoon but fire growth was minimal, especially compared to what firefighters were up against Wednesday.

The latest update from incident management listed the Williams Fork fire at 9,457 acres with 4% containment.

"A couple days ago, we were able to get our first containment up on the board and that's important because we're protecting a lot of communities around here," said Broyles.

While the community of Fraiser and other areas close to the perimeter remain on pre-evacuation, there have been no mandatory evacuations.

On Thursday, the winds primarily blew away from those closest to the line, but many were preparing in case the wind decided to shift.

"If the wind would change and start coming from the southeast, we'd be in a world of hurt and earlier they said we were six miles from the edge and I think we're closer to three or four now, so we just wanna be prepared," said Steve Dall.

Dall lives in the Valentine Subdivision, a small neighborhood near Ute Pass. He has been in the area for more than 40 years.

"I've lived out here long enough, I've seen fires, I know how fast they can move," he said.

The hard part for Dall was hearing the fire was human caused.

"Since the 'Safer at Home' situation in Denver, we've been inundated with campers."

While officials know the fire was human caused, the details of how it started are still under investigation.

"Lightening, Mother Nature I understand…" said Dall.

On Thursday, with no structures lost and the fire perimeter blowing slowly away from homes, Broyles pointed out one positive: regrowth of lodgepole pines, which have been ravaged by beetle kill.

"The cones need the fire in order to rejuvenate, and so when we look at good news, we can look at a healthier environment and ecosystem -- when it's done at the right time, in the right place, in the right way. That's what our team is here to do, to put a plan in place and to support our partners to help accomplish that," said Broyles.

There are a total of 226 personal with a Type One incident management team working on the Williams Fork Fire.