Derby Fire shows little to no growth as rains assist firefighters

The Derby Fire is now a much different “product” than it was two days ago. That’s according to Ben Patton, the operations section chief for the interagency team managing the large wildfire in the northwest corner of Eagle County.

The 700 or so personnel working the blaze have made massive strides in recent days, building a mix of dozer and hand line around the fire, and working that in with existing roads to build a long portion of perimeter around the most intense portion of the blaze. That line is expected to be called officially “contained” soon, Patton said during a community update on Monday night at Gypsum Town Hall.

“We’re feeling really good about that,” Patton said. “I imagine in the next 24 hours … we’re going to call that contained.”

It’s a term that his team doesn’t take lightly.

“Containment is when that supervisor feels like it can maintain wind, weather, and maintain that fire’s edge,” he said.

But with that long line now built, some of the remainder of the firefighting taking place to extend the line is serious business.

“When we’re going direct, right up against the fire’s edge, it’s real firefighting, it’s the real deal, it’s high risk,” Patton said.

Amid the heroics from those in the field, however, the weather has been the real difference maker in recent days. The cooler temperatures have allowed for that type of firefighting, and it will be able to continue in the next few days, “as long as we don’t have intense heat,” Patton said.

Along with cooler temperatures, the fire has seen what meteorologist Ryan Fliehman called “wetting rain,” with nearby areas receiving as much as eight-tenths of an inch of rain.

But as often happens, Fliehman said, as soon as the rain comes, the fears quickly turn to what happens if and when it becomes too much.

“We wanted the rain, but I’m afraid we might get too much of the rain tomorrow to where we have that threat of flash flooding and debris flows, especially around that fire footprint,” Fliehman said

There’s a chance of precipitation in the forecast every day for the next six days, Fliehman said.

“Two weeks ago, that wasn’t there,” he said. “We got an awful lot of good news here, cooler than normal temperatures, high relative humidity, and we continue to keep that chance of precipitation going throughout the next six days. Overall, the fire-weather conditions are really, really tamped down from what we’ve seen.”

The next few days have high probabilities of rain as well, including a 95% chance on Tuesday and 90% Wednesday.

“That just shows the duration of this monsoonal push of moisture we’ve seen here on the Western Slope of Colorado,” Fliehman added.

Patton said almost every structure that was threatened is now protected.

“We’re down to just our last few buildings,” he said.

Sheriff James van Beek said Colorado River Road is now open to employees of ranches in the area, as well as residents, between the hours of 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., “if they get ahold of us ahead of time,” he said. “As long as we know that they’re coming.”

Van Beek said residents of Sweetwater Road are being asked to only travel between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. “unless it’s essential … you gotta get kids to school or go to work.”

Van Beek said there have been rumors that Sweetwater residents will be locked in their houses at 4 p.m.

“You’re not, but we’re asking you to be patient with us,” he said. “Outside 10 and 4, that’s when (Patton) and his crews are doing a lot of the moving, and we’re trying to avoid collisions.”

Patton is with the Northern Rockies Complex Incident Management Team 3 out of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. That team will remain in place at the Derby Fire through Friday, at which time it will hand off the effort to the Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team 3.

“I think we’ll be able to hand off to the next team a good product to work with,” Patton said.