MEEKER | With the Elk Fire 100% contained, progress continues on the south side of the Lee Fire, with 68% containment as of press time Wednesday.
On Monday the Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team 3 handed off command of the incident to the Northern Rockies Complex Incident Management Team 1.
The Elk Fire consumed 14,518 acres, while the Lee Fire is mapped at 137,755 acres, just a few hundred acres shy of the 2002 Hayman Fire near Colorado Springs, the fourth largest wildlfire in Colorado history.
As of Wednesday, there were 523 total personnel on the fires, with 28 engines, five helicopters, six hand crews, seven water tenders, and five dozers.
Crews will continue cleaning up remaining interior pockets of unburned fuel and increasing mop-up depth where possible along the fire lines. Focus this week will be on impacts caused by the firefighting efforts. Evacuation statuses are being lifted as deemed safe, and Highway 13 has been reopened north and southbound between Meeker and Rifle.
Warm dry weather over the next few days will continue to bring moderate to active fire behavior in unburned islands that will produce visible smoke columns.
The post-fire recovery process entails multiple entities and organizations, including White River Electric Association, which was out repairing power lines on the Lee Fire in Josephine Basin on Aug. 9. KATHLEEN KELLEY PHOTO
