The Picnic Rock Fire is 6,000 acres and growing, according to a revised estimate by fire officials. So far, $650,000 has been spent fighting the fire.
The fire moved north and west overnight and has jumped to the west side of the North Fork of the Poudre River. The fire has made a run west of the Bonner Peak Ranch subdivision, forcing officials to issue a standby alert for residents in the Hewlett Gulch area, about 6 miles west of Bonner Peak. Residents of Livermore already were on standby.
Winds have fanned the fire’s size from 3,500 acres Thursday night to 6,000 acres today, said Steven Hall, a spokesman for Rocky Mountain Area Team Bravo, which Thursday morning took responsibility for managing the fire.
Jesus Rodriguez, a firefighter with the Rifle Icemen, a state Department of Corrections crew made up of minimum security inmates, fought the blaze Thursday. “The wind scatters it from one hill to another. That’s when it blows up on you and you have to get out of there,” he said today before heading back to the line.
A few firefighters said the blaze was very difficult to fight and they were hoping for better weather conditions, more firefighters and continued air support. Approximately 300 firefighters will be working the fire today, with air tankers and helicopters joining the effort.
Colorado Highway 14 reopened about 8 a.m. today.
The fire destroyed a house and a garage on Thursday. No other structures are known to have been destroyed, Hall said. The blaze still is threatening 23 other homes and 70 additional structures.
