Sunday, June 9th, 2013 marked the one-year anniversary of the High Park Fire West of Fort Collins. I'll never forget. Over 80 thousand Acres were burned by the massive blaze.  Over 260 homes were lost and one person lost their life.

Since the fire was contained on June 30th, 2012, the U.S. Forest Service has been working on Burn Area Emergency Response activities on National Forest System lands. Work last year and this spring/summer has resulted in more than 3,500 acres of high severity burned areas being aerially mulched with wood shred and straw.

This summer, weeds are being surveyed and treated in the burn areas. Work on roads and trails in the area have also been done by Forest Service employees and volunteers and continues throughout the summer. Some roads sustained significant damage, especially Old Flowers Road, which will take time to fully repair.

CLOSURES

There are still closures associated with the High Park Fire.  The closure includes the burn area south of Colorado Highway 14, except the area commonly referred to as “Crystal Wall” climbing area. There is also a small area on the north side of the highway around Stevens Gulch that is closed. Except for Young Gulch Trail and the Kruetzer/Mount McConnell Trail, which remain closed; the developed recreation sites along the Poudre Canyon are open or will open as scheduled. A closure area map is posted online at http://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/arp/alerts-notices/?aid=12171.

HIGH PARK FIRE FACTS

  • 87,284 acres burned
  • Water Dropped: 2.7 million gallons
  • 1 resident killed
  • Peak Number of Personnel: 2,000+
  • 264 homes burned
  • Peak Number of Aircraft: 28 available on one day
  • Fire Retardant Dropped: 819,456 gallons
  • Peak Number of Fire Engines: 140

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