SOUTH FORK– Firefighting crews made good progress on the Park Creek Fire over the Memorial Day weekend with 80 percent containment as of Monday evening. Fire behavior has been characterized as smoldering.
Firefighting crews have been released each day over the weekend as more of the fire has been contained. As of Tuesday, there is one 20-person hotshot crew from Craig, Colo., one type three helicopter and two engines assigned to the fire. Fuels Technician Kent Smith of the Rio Grande National Forest has taken over as incident commander. At its peak, there were more than 100 firefighters, three helicopters and five engines working to suppress the Park Creek Fire.
The Park Creek Fire was first reported on May 25 burning in grass and spruce-fir forest above Park Creek about eight miles southwest of South Fork on the Rio Grande National Forest. The fire is about 61 acres in size and its cause is undetermined, but was possibly started several days earlier by lightning.
National Forest Service Road 380 (Park Creek) continues to be closed from U.S. Highway 160 to the intersection with NFSR 361. Park Creek Campground and Forest Service Trail 842 (Tewksberry Trail) are also still closed.
A temporary flight restriction is in place over the closure area. Flying drones in the area is prohibited by law and will ground air resources.
Conditions continue to be extremely dry on the Rio Grande National Forest. Stage I fire restrictions are in place prohibiting campfires anywhere on the Forest except in established fire grates in developed recreation sites. For more information on the restrictions, visit the Rio Grande National Forest website at https://www.fs.usda.gov/riogrande.
There will be periodic updates concerning the Park Creek Fire on the Rio Grande National Forest Facebook page at U.S. Forest Service – Rio Grande National Forest (@USFSRGNF).
For more information, contact the Rio Grande National Forest Supervisor’s Office between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. at 719-852-5941.