Derby fire activity remains low; weekend weather to bring rain, lightning

The Derby Fire is 4,557 acres and 42% contained as of Thursday morning.

While warm weather has led to the fire area drying out and humidity dipping below 20% on Wednesday, fire activity remained minimal, according to Inciweb.

Thursday could see afternoon clouds as moisture rolls back into Colorado’s mountains. Storms are expected over the weekend that could bring brief heavy rainfall as well as lightning.

“Starting today, we’ll see a little bit of shower activity, very isolated. Some of the showers will be move through, but it won’t be very impactful on the fire itself,” said incident meteorologist Jason Straub in a Thursday morning update on the Derby Fire Facebook page.

The weekend’s rain is expected to bring beneficial rainfall to the fire area though, with Straub expecting a tenth of an inch, if not more.

On Thursday, there were 526 personnel working the fire, with a big focus on the northwest corner.

Air Operations Branch Director Preston Burns explained that Wyoming Interagency Hotshots, as well as the Phantom Canyon suppression module and a helitack module are all working in the northwest portion of the fire to control hot spots and put down line. He expects them to complete their tasks in that area Thursday afternoon.

On the northeast side of the fire, the Flagstaff Hotshots are working and plan to stay in the area through the weekend as the weather passes through.

This story is from Vaildaily.com.