Cameron Peak Fire crosses Pingree Park fire line as it grows to nearly 100,000 acres

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8 p.m. update: Several structures in Monument Gulch have been damaged or destroyed by the Cameron Peak Fire, according to Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith. 

Smith said he doesn't yet know how many structures have been lost because the active fire and some road blockages from fallen trees haven't made it possible to take an exact count. He shared the news in a Facebook town hall Monday night. He also said there might be some structure damage in the area of Rustic but has been unable to confirm. 

Monument Gulch is located west of Stove Prairie Road, south of Colorado Highway 14 and east of Pingree Park Road.

The fire continued to explode Monday due to hot, dry and windy conditions and it is now mapped at 96,462 acres. It crossed Pingree Park Road, and now firefighters are directly battling the blaze as they had to take "defensive" actions. 

Fifty additional fire engines were brought in for structure protection. Winds of up to 40 mph limited ability to attack the fire with aircraft. 

The current forecast for the incoming cold front calls for anywhere from 6-18 inches of snow in the area of the fire, according to incident meteorologist Cory Mottice. Temperatures are expected to be in the low 20s overnight Monday into Tuesday. 

"With the weather coming in, that will give us the opportunity over the next several days to go from a defensive posture back to an offensive posture," said operations section chief Jon Teutrine.

Smith said there are no plans for evacuations in Fort Collins and Loveland because fuel for the fire would likely run out before it could threaten the cities.

6:40 p.m. update: The Cameron Peak Fire is now 96,462 acres as of 6:40 p.m., according to the Rocky Mountain Area (Colorado, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota) Coordination Center. The fire is 4% contained.

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Original: The Cameron Peak Fire has burned through 89,000 acres in the mountains west of Fort Collins, more than tripling in size over the Labor Day weekend and triggering waves of evacuation orders.

As expected, the fire reached the firefighters' line along Pingree Park Road northeast of the Colorado State University Mountain Campus. By Monday afternoon, it crossed the road and firefighters were actively engaging with it, the Canyon Lakes Ranger District of the Arapahoe and Roosevelt national forests posted on Twitter.

Firefighters used a football analogy to call the fire line along Pingree Park Road the goal line they were hoping to defend. Once past that point, the fire would move eastbound toward the more populated Stove Prairie Road and areas decimated by the 2012 High Park Fire.

Cameron Peak Fire managers said Monday afternoon the wildfire had not yet reached Upper Buckhorn and resources were being reprioritized to protect structures in the Pingree Park/Upper Buckhorn area. Additionally, 50 additional engines requested from the state of Colorado are starting to arrive and are being assigned to the Colorado Highway 14, Pingree Park Road and Buckhorn areas to defend structures.

A spokesman for firefighters said crews were "holding our own" against the fire, but in a "defensive posture" as the fire encroached ahead of snow and moisture forecast for Monday night.

Mandatory evacuations were called for an increasing number of mountain communities Monday, including Glacier View Meadows, one of the largest mountain communities northwest of Fort Collins. The residential subdivision includes about 970 lots north of Colorado Highway 14 and west of Livermore, according to its property owners association webpage. The nearby Red Feather and Crystal Lakes communities were ordered to evacuate shortly before 5 p.m.

Other areas under evacuation included most of Colorado Highway 14 west of U.S. Highway 287 and communities off Buckhorn and Rist Canyon roads.

"This fire is very personal for everybody up there," Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith said while choking up during an afternoon media briefing. The High Park Fire burned into the same mountain communities in 2012, burning more than 87,000 acres and destroying 259 homes.

Larimer County Sheriff's Office spokesman David Moore said the office had sent 7,657 contacts for evacuation related to the Cameron Peak Fire. That number includes all devices that have signed up for alerts and is not indicative of how many households are under evacuation orders.

Just before 3 p.m., nearly the entirety of Colorado Highway 14 east of the fire's origin went under a mandatory evacuation order when the Poudre Canyon was ordered to evacuate as far east as Fort Collins' Gateway Natural Area, which is less than 5 miles west of Colorado Highway 14's intersection with U.S. Highway 287.

That evacuation included the Poudre Park community, one of the larger collections of homes in the Poudre Canyon.

While Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith acknowledged at a Monday afternoon news conference that some residents under mandatory evacuations had refused to leave their homes, he couldn't estimate how many and said it was "not a tremendous percentage." 

"As the fire gets closer, you see those folks pull out (of the area)," Smith told reporters outside of the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.

Hot, windy conditions on Sunday pushed the fire to 59,051 acres, according to the federal fire crews fighting the fire. Updated mapping released Monday night had the fire exceeding 89,000 acres.

Monday morning mapping showed the fire pushed southeast of Colorado Highway 14, burning a large swath of the Roosevelt National Forest east to the south fork of the Poudre River.

In Fort Collins, ash was steadily falling Monday as the sky darkened to a burnt-orange hue under the smoke plume caused by the expanding fire. The forecast for Fort Collins called for a high of 90 degrees, but temperatures remained in the low 60s all day, according to the Fort Collins Weather Station at Colorado State University.

As of Sunday night, no additional structures had burned beyond a U.S. Forest Service Greenridge/Lost Lake trailhead outhouse that was damaged in August. Still, Smith said a lot of structures were threatened, some imminently.

Firefighters continued working Monday to protect structures along Highway 14 and Pingree Park Road while monitoring the fire's southern flank along Long Draw Road, according to Operations Section Chief Tom Barter.

The fire was listed at 4% containment Monday morning due to its continued growth. There are 795 personnel assigned to fight the fire.

PERSPECTIVE: Just how big and how far away is the Cameron Peak Fire?

The cause of the fire, which ignited Aug. 13, is believed to be of human origin but remains under investigation.

Fire activity

Firefighters expected, and got, another day of "extreme" fire activity due to high winds and low humidity Monday. The fire was expected to make eastward runs toward Buckhorn Canyon and the High Park Fire burn area before cooler weather was expected to diminish fire activity.

"Every hour that we get nearer 9 o'clock, 10 o'clock this evening is a tremendous relief because we know those forecasts bring a change in weather," Smith said, noting that even with the cold front coming, "what we can't afford to do is say, 'We're keeping our fingers crossed it doesn't hit these areas.' We're not gonna get anybody killed. We're gonna do everything we can to protect folks."

Jake Livingston, planning operations, Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team, said west winds were expected to fuel the fire's eastward push Monday, both toward the area of the CSU Mountain Campus and along the south side of Highway 14.

Firefighters were moving resources to areas of concern to focus on structure protection, especially along Pingree Park Road.

"We have quite a few resources up in there and they are doing defensive actions around the structures along the Pingree Park Road," Livingston said in a Monday morning video update.

SMOKE MAP: Track fire and smoke impacts in Fort Collins

Weather outlook

The National Weather Service's red flag warning for the fire area extended until 8 p.m. Monday, when was to be replaced with a winter storm warning as a cold front sweeps in.

That system is expected to dump up to 16 inches of snow on the burn area from Monday night into Wednesday morning, and drop 2 to 6 inches of snow in the lower elevations across Colorado's northern Front Range.

"The snow is no guarantee ... but it's going to give a break," Smith said Monday afternoon.

Tuesday's daytime high in Fort Collins is expected to be 33.

Cooler temperatures are expected to linger throughout the week, with overnight lows in the 30s in Fort Collins and daytime highs creeping toward 70 by Friday.

Record-breaking swing: Biggest temperature drop in 150 years expected Tuesday

Evacuations and closures

Fire activity continued to force expanded closures and evacuation orders over the holiday weekend.

For those impacted by an evacuation order, the American Red Cross set up an emergency shelter for evacuees at Cache la Poudre Middle School, 3515 W. Larimer County Road 54G in Laporte. Shelter assistance is available to those who call 970-481-1243.

The Larimer County Humane Society is available to help shelter small animals and can be contacted at 970-226-3647, ext. 7. For help sheltering large animals, call Troy Badberg with the Larimer County Sheriff's Office Posse at 970-443-3231.

HELP FOR PEOPLE AND ANIMALS: Evacuees flee as Cameron Peak Fire grows

For evacuation updates, text the word LCEVAC to 888777 from your cell phone.

A virtual community meeting and question-and-answer session is planned on the Cameron Peak Fire Facebook page 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Residents and businesses in areas under voluntary evacuation orders are encouraged to evacuate if they are concerned for their safety, feel they need extra time to exit, or have health conditions that may be aggravated by the fire.

Those under mandatory evacuation orders are instructed to evacuate immediately due to imminent fire danger.

Evacuations and closures announced Sunday and Monday (see map above for visual):

Mandatory evacuation order: 5 p.m. Monday: Lady moon and Red Feather Highlands areas, both residents and businesses.

Mandatory evacuation order: 4:50 p.m. Monday: Red Feather and Crystal Lakes communities.

Voluntary evacuation order: 4 p.m. Monday: Glen Haven Retreat, town of Glen Haven and Storm Mountain.

Voluntary evacuation order: 3:30 p.m. Monday: Larimer County Road 27 south of Big Bear Road to Masonville and north into the Buckskin Heights subdivision.

Mandatory evacuation order: 3 p.m. Monday: Larimer County Road 27 (Buckhorn Road) from Larimer County Road 44H south to Big Bear Road, 4 miles northwest of Masonville.

Mandatory evacuation order: 3 p.m. Monday: All of Larimer County Road 52E (Rist Canyon Road) including Davis Ranch Road, Whale Rock Road and west to County Road 27

Mandatory evacuation order: 3 p.m. Monday: Colorado Highway 14 from Stove Prairie Landing east to Fort Collins' Gateway Natural Area, 5.7 miles west of the Colorado 14/U.S. Highway 287 intersection.

Mandatory evacuation order: 11:30 a.m. Monday: Colorado Highway 14 from Kelly Flats east to Stove Prairie Landing

Voluntary evacuation order: 10:30 a.m. Monday: Larimer County Road 52E (Rist Canyon Road) including Davis Ranch Road, Whale Rock Road and west to County Road 27E.

Mandatory evacuation order: 10 a.m. Monday: Stove Prairie Landing at Colorado 14 south on Larimer County Road 27 to County Road 44H, including Stratton Park.

Mandatory evacuation order: 10 a.m. Monday: Glacier View filings for residents and business occupants. This order includes areas of Mount Simon, Green Mountain Meadow and Drake Ranch.

Closure: The U.S. Forest Service closed all of its lands west of the Roosevelt National Forest boundary, east of Colorado Forest State Park, south of Larimer County Road 80C and north of Rocky Mountain National Park and U.S. Highway 34.

The closure includes all campgrounds, many trails, trailheads and other sites in order to keep recreationists away from firefighting efforts.

Voluntary evacuation order: Stove Prairie Road (Larimer County Road 27) from Colorado Highway 14 south to County Road 44H, east to include County Road 41 and Stratton Park due to increased fire activity. Colorado 14 is also under a voluntary evacuation order from Kelly Flats to Stove Prairie Landing due to anticipated fire activity on Labor Day. Colorado Highway 14 is closed west of Stove Prairie Landing, while County Road 74E is now closed at its intersection with County Road 37. 

Voluntary evacuation order: Larimer County Road 74E, east from Red Feather and including the Shambhala Mountain Center, Lady Moon and Glacier View filings up to and including Hewlett Gulch Road, located west of mile marker 10.

Closure: Rocky Mountain National Park announced the closure of Trail Ridge Road, effective at 3 p.m. Sunday due to concerns of poor visibility as smoke from the Cameron Peak Fire inundates the park. The road that spans the park between Grand Lake and Estes Park is closed from the Colorado River Trailhead on the west to the Forest Canyon Overlook on the east. Park officials previously closed Old Fall River road and other areas on the park's northern reaches due to wildfire activity.

Mandatory evacuation order: Overriding a previous voluntary order for Buckhorn Road (Larimer County Road 44H) from Pennock Pass to County Road 27.

Coloradoan editor Eric Larsen can be reached at ericlarsen@coloradoan.com or 970-224-7745. Support journalism in Fort Collins and subscribe today at offers.coloradoan.com/specialoffer.