100 percent containment reached on Deep Creek Fire

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Firefighters reached a milestone Wednesday when they achieved 100 percent containment on the Deep Creek Fire burning nine miles northeast of Hayden.

The total acreage burned within the perimeter was 4,161 acres. Smoke will still likely visible from activity inside the fire perimeter.

The fire was reported Sept. 4 and might have been sparked by a previous fire that had not been completely extinguished. That investigation has been ongoing.

Fighting it has been costly.

A national Type II incident management team was brought in because there were not enough local firefighting resources.

At the height of the fire, there were upward of 300 personnel fighting the blaze.

Routt County Emergency Management Director David “Mo” DeMorat said the fire’s cost is expected to exceed $2 million.

The county is expected to be responsible for a fraction of the cost, but DeMorat said it is too early to know how much.

The Type II team was continuing to demobilize Thursday, and local authorities were going to take over the fire Friday.

DeMorat said local crews will mainly consist of firefighters from Oak Creek and West Routt.

North Routt firefighters are still supporting efforts at the Big Red Fire burning in the Routt National Forest.

A crew of Steamboat Springs firefighters has been deployed to a fire in South Dakota.

On Thursday, an excavator reached an area of the Deep Creek Fire where aerial drone video showed coal was burning.

DeMorat said they believe it was leftover coal from an old mining operation, and the threat was extinguished.

To reach Matt Stensland, call 970-871-4247, email mstensland@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @SBTStensland.