In the News

All Willow Fire evacuation zones were downgraded to pre-evacuation zones on Friday, July 30. 

Evacuation Zones 21, 21A, 21C and 4 were all moved to pre-evacuation, according to the Lake County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO). Zone 21B, north of Turquoise Lake, had all evacuation statuses lifted. Every other zone that was under pre-evacuation is lifted too.

The Leadville National Fish Hatchery and the roads leading to it, County Road 9 at the May Queen campground and Halfmoon Road all remain closed, the LCSO said in a Facebook post. County Road 4 west of the Turquoise Lake Dam, County Road 5A and Highway 300 were reopened to property owners and residents only. The May Queen campground was also reopened.

Fish were returned to the fish hatchery, Kim Hemanway, Wyoming Incident Management Team public information officer, said.

Salamander cards are required for re-entry into the previously evacuated zones. 

The change in evacuation statuses comes as the fire has held along containment lines. The last growth of the fire was noted on July 21, according to a progression map of the fire provided by the Wyoming Incident Management Team.

The fire was at 67% containment Tuesday morning, and the fire has stayed at 7,196 acres.

“We thought that it was a safe move, and we wanted to get people home,” Dan Campbell, Lake County Office of Emergency Management director, said. “We want them to be in their houses.”

The fire will also be moving to a smaller task force Thursday. The Wyoming Incident Management Team, a Type 3 response group, will be replaced by a local Type 4 management team, Hemanway said. Personnel will eventually drop to around 30 people, far from the more than 800 working the fire during its peak.

The change isn’t a downsize, it’s a rightsize, Hemanway said. With much of the fire edge contained, there’s just less work to be done.

Part of that change will mean the headquarters for the Willow Fire response will be moved to the U.S. Forest Service Ranger Station building in Leadville from the Buena Vista location, Campbell said.

Now, the fire has containment lines along all sides, excluding a single section to the west, where the treeline and rocky terrain act like a pseudo containment line. That segment is also in a nearly inaccessible area of the Mount Massive Wilderness area.

Though recent rains have suppressed the fire, it’s expected that the fire won’t truly be extinguished until the winter due to the level of dryness in the 1000-hour fuels and the mixed-conifer fuel type of the fire. Pockets of unburned fuel in the fire area will occasionally burn and give off smoke.

“That might just be a long-term event, that might continue to smolder a little bit until the snow flies,” Hemanway said.

No buildings have been damaged by the fire, and there have been no serious injuries, Hemanway said. The only injuries reported were cases of altitude sickness among the crews and other small ailments. Everyone was back to work the next day.

Colorado wildfires in Congress

U.S. Rep. Brittany Pettersen introduced six fire-related bills into the House after a notable summer of Colorado wildfires.

The Willow Fire was one of a number of different Colorado wildfires this summer that also includes the Gold Fire, Aspen Acres Fire and more.

The Guaranteed Disaster Assistance Act would ensure Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding is given to states after a major disaster or when Fire Management Assistance Grant funding is provided for a wildfire, a news release said. This bill would remove the current need for the president to issue a major disaster declaration in order to access long-term funding.

The HUD Disaster Information Improvements Act would require the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to work with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the U.S. Small Business Administration to support family and businesses after a disaster.

“The GAO and HUD’s Inspector General have identified serious challenges with data sharing, duplication-of-benefits determinations, and improper payments,” Congressman Tim Moore said in a news release. “This legislation strengthens transparency and coordination between agencies, helping reduce waste, fraud, and abuse while ensuring disaster relief gets to folks more efficiently.”

The Wildfire Research Coordination Act would increase collaboration between federal agencies to improve wildfire research and prevention strategies.

The Wildfire Responder Protection Act would allow everyone fighting fires to have access to certain health care coverage when exposed to hazardous conditions.

These two bills were endorsed by the Alliance for Wildfire Resilience, according to the news release. 

The Emergency Mountain Pine Beetle Response Act would provide grant opportunities to local groups working with the Forest Service to mitigate the pine beetle threat.

The Mountain Pine Beetle Coordination Act would direct the Forest Service to enter into cooperative agreements with states to specifically prevent, monitor and respond to pine beetle outbreaks.

The two Mountain Pine Beetle bills were endorsed by Colorado Governor Jared Polis, the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and the Colorado State Forest Service.

The Post-Disaster Reforestation and Restoration Bill, introduced by Pettersen, also was passed back in March. The bill requires the Department of Interior, with the help of states and local governments, to identify land in need of rehabilitation after disasters and to support it with grants, contracts and cooperative agreements.

Pettersen also visited Leadville last week to speak with residents and businesses about the impact the fire has had on the community.

“The recent Aspen Acres and Willow fires were devastating to our communities and natural environment,” Pettersen said in the news release. “Our Colorado families understand that wildfire season is no longer just a few months of the year. The threat is constant and increasing due to climate change, and we need an all-hands-on-deck approach.”