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Firefighters are making slow progress fighting the Alexander Mountain fire, which spread to cover more than 14 square miles west of Loveland. The team overseeing the firefighting said Friday they were watching a line of thunderstorms that could shift winds.
- The Alexander Mountain fire is the largest currently burning in Colorado and is about 5 percent contained. No injuries have been reported, but the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday that two dozen homes and outbuildings have been damaged or destroyed.
- Investigators are probing the cause of the fire, which was reported through a 911 call Monday morning.
- Evacuation orders are in place for a region west of Loveland that extends from Indian Mountain north, just beyond Storm Mountain and the Estes overlook, and east to Devil's Backbone and Indian Creek Road. Some mandatory evacuations were lifted on the eastern edge of the fire on Friday, but residents there and the western edge of the fire near Glen Haven have been warned to be prepared to leave if the fire worsens.
- The U.S. Forest Service added more recreation closures to the area Thursday.
Evacuation information
- Evacuation Centers have been set up at Foundations Church at 1380 N. Denver Ave. in Loveland and at the Estes Park Events Complex at 1125 Rooftop Way in Estes Park.
- Residents can evacuate large animals to Island Grove Regional Park at 501 N. 14th Ave. in Greeley.
Fire crews on Friday continued focusing on protecting the heavily forested U.S. Route 34 corridor, where a critical fiber optic line is also located. Brandon Woodward, an operations section chief with the Southwest Incident Management Team I, said teams were using bulldozers in the area to clear fire breaks.
Firefighters were also prioritizing protecting homes near the Cedar Park area near the western edge of the fire, Woodward said. That includes clearing out trees and brush, and preparing homes and properties in some neighborhoods so they are less likely to ignite if embers blow in from the fire.
Woodward said more state and federal resources — people and equipment — arrived Friday to help teams fight the Alexander Mountian fire. Some national resources have been slow to arrive due to other, more dangerous fires burning in other Western states like California, Oregon and Washington.
Heavy smoke on the northern Front Range from the Quarry, Stone Canyon and Alexander Mountain fires is expected Friday, according to the National Weather Service. Places south of metro Denver may also experience heavy smoke. State health authorities have issued an air quality alert for much of the region.
More than 300 firefighters are working to control the Alexander Mountain fire. Fire managers say the growth of the Alexander Mountain fire will likely be capped to the north due to the 326 square-mile burn scar left by the 2020 Cameron Peak fire — Colorado’s largest — which eliminated a lot of vegetation that could fuel new wildfires in the area.
Fire crews expect above-average temperatures in the '90s on Friday, which are expected to last through the weekend and into Monday. A chance of showers and thunderstorms is possible Friday afternoon but it's unclear whether storms will help or hurt firefighting efforts.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
