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Evacuation order lifted for Red Canyon fire area

John Stroud
Post Independent Staff

GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado — Residents who were evacuated on the Red Canyon Fire were being allowed to return to their homes this morning, according to an update from the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team that is in charge of the fire suppression effort.

Also, the fire is now 75 percent contained and has not grown beyond the 390 acres reported on Thursday evening, fire officials said.

“We do expect to be 100 percent contained by the end of the day Friday,” Chuck Russell, deputy commander for the fire management team reported to Glenwood Springs City Council Thursday night.



“We have been able to make good progress on the fire, and a lot of that has to do with the work your local fire department did on the initial attack,” Russell said of the Glenwood Springs Fire Department and other area firefighting agencies that were the first to respond to the fire Monday evening.

“They had a very good start on the fire, and gave us something to work off of,” Russell said.



Evacuated residents who live on Lookout Mountain Road who are returning to their homes should be aware that if they have Holy Cross Energy as their electric provider, they will not have power until later today, incident officials also said.

For the time being, Garfield County Road 115 (Red Canyon Road) will remain closed to traffic from the gate near State Highway 82 to the gate on the east side of the fire area at County Road 119 (Kindall Road). Lookout Mountain Road will be opened to residents of the area only.

All pre-evacuation notices in the nearby Christeleit subdivision were also being lifted at 9 a.m. today.

Meanwhile, firefighters will be keeping a close eye on the weather today, which is expected to be hot and dry, with a large potential for fire spread, especially if the winds pick up, Bill Kight, public information officer for the inter-agency incident management team, said this morning.

“We really want hammer this fire early in the day and try to put it to bed,” he said. “We do hope to have 100 percent containment, or as close as possible to that, by the end of the day.”

jstroud@postindependent.com


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