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Wildfires Force Closure Of Rocky Mountain National Park

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By Kurt Repanshek - October 22nd, 2020
With wildfires on its western and northern borders, Rocky Mountain National Park closed Thursday/USFS

With wildfires on its western and northern borders, Rocky Mountain National Park closed Thursday/Inciweb

With wildfires burning on its northern and western borders, Rocky Mountain National Park on Thursday was forced to close for the immediate future.

Of utmost concern was the East Troublesome Creek Fire to the west that exploded in size in recent days and forced evacuation of Grand Lake, Colorado, a gateway community on the western side of Rocky Mountain National Park.

"If conditions allow, an Infrared flight is planned to gauge where there is current fire activity. This is a rapidly evolving situation," park spokeswoman Kyle Patterson said Thursday morning in a release. "Currently, air quality is hazardous within Rocky Mountain National Park."

She added that Trail Ridge Road was impassable on the west side of the park due to downed trees on the road.

On Wednesday, low visibility was reported due to smoke from the East Troublesome Creek Fire on Trail Ridge Road. Thursday morning the fire was reported to cover 125,602 acres, with containment around just 5 percent of the blaze.

On the northern side of Rocky Mountain, the Cameron Peak Fire covered nearly 207,000 acres as of Wednesday night, and was 55 percent contained. Smoke from the East Troublesome Fire was reported to be moving over Cameron Peak.

Comments

Submitted by Bill Stock on October 22, 2020 - 6:03pm.

Hiked in the park yesterday, October 21, 2020 , had clear skies & no worries. R.M.N.P. only been open for 1 week not requiring a reservation, so wanted to spontaneously enjoy it as I have for 35 years. Say 28 deer and other wildlife & now the treasure is BURNING and Closed. Sad


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