Editor’s note: The updates in this story are from Monday, July 29, with the latest updates added to the top of the below section. Follow Tuesday updates at Coloradoan.com here.
More: Live updates: Heat advisory issued as firefighting efforts continue west of Loveland
A fire in the Roosevelt National Forest north of U.S. Highway 34 grew to an estimated 950 acres Monday, prompting mandatory and voluntary evacuations as it burned west of Loveland.
The Alexander Mountain Fire burning west of Loveland has grown to an estimated 950 acres with no containment as of 7:45 p.m. Monday, July 29, Larimer County Sheriff’s Office shared in a Monday evening press release.
The sheriff’s office said air resources dropped water and fire retardant on the fire “continuously until about 8 p.m.” Monday.
Fire crews will be on scene overnight, with air operations “and additional ground resources” expected to resume Tuesday morning, the sheriff’s office said.
The sheriff’s office said it will transfer command of the fire to the U.S. Forest Service at 6 a.m. Tuesday. While the Forest Service will “be responsible for all public information moving forward,” the sheriff’s office will continue to manage the Joint Information Center and release information about evacuation notices, road closures and animal evacuation information. The information center will reopen at 8 a.m. Tuesday and can be reached at 970-980-2500.
Mandatory evacuations remained in place for County Road 18E from Pole Hill to Pinewood Reservoir and Drake to Dam Store along U.S. Highway 34, including Storm Mountain and Palisade Mountain, the sheriff’s office said. For the latest evacuation information, check nocoalert.org or text “LCEVAC” to 888777.
Evacuation sites are set up at Foundations Church, 1380 N. Denver Ave., in Loveland and Event Center in Estes Park, 1125 Rooftop Way. Large animals can be taken to The Ranch, 5400 Arena Circle, in Loveland. For small animals, contact NOCO Humane at 970-226-3647 (option 0).
As of Monday evening, the sheriff’s office said “due to the large outpouring of support, no additional volunteer resources or supplies are needed at this time.”
As of the Monday night update, road closures included:
- U.S. Highway 34: Closed to eastbound and westbound traffic between Mall Road and North County Road 29.
- County Road 43 (Devils Gulch Road): Between Drake and Estes
- County Road 18E (Pole Hill Road): Closed west of County Road 31
- County Road 29: Closed between County Road 27 and U.S. 34.
The sheriff’s office said multiple agencies assisted with the fire Monday, including:
- Berthoud Fire Department
- Big Elk Volunteer Fire Department
- Big Thompson Canyon Fire Department
- Boulder County Sheriff’s Office
- Boulder County Fire Rescue
- Centurylink
- Colorado Department of Transportation
- Colorado Parks and Wildlife
- Colorado State Patrol
- Dacono Fire / Mountain View Fire Rescue Station
- Division of Fire Prevention and Control
- Douglas County Helitack
- Drake Fire
- Estes Park Fire Department
- Frederick Fire Department
- Gilcrest Fire Department
- Glen Haven Fire
- Greeley Fire Department
- Hygiene Fire Protection District
- Larimer County All-Hazards/Crisis Response Team
- Larimer County Posse
- Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority
- Longmont Fire Department
- Loveland Fire Rescue Authority
- Loveland Police Department
- Northern Colorado Humane Society
- Platte Valley Fire Department
- Poudre Valley REA
- Thompson Valley Emergency Services
- United States Forest Service
- Xcel
— Sarah Kyle
As sunset approaches, here’s what we know about the Alexander Mountain Fire and its impacts as of 7:30 p.m. Monday, July 29:
Size: The latest acreage shared by the U.S. Forest Service and Larimer County Sheriff’s Office is 864 acres.
Evacuations: Multiple mandatory and voluntary evacuations remain in place. Current evacuations are being shared by the Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority, also known as LETA 911, in the map below. Major road closures are also displayed on the map.
Closures: Multiple roads and areas are closed. Pay close attention to signage, the sheriff’s office said in a post on X.
Horsetooth Reservoir: The reservoir west of Fort Collins was being used to support wildfire suppression operations Monday. Larimer County Department of Natural Resources asked in a post on X that people “avoid the area until further notice.” Fort Collins police posted on X that some of those operations “may be visible from Fort Collins and surrounding areas” and asked people to not call 911 to report them.
Joint Information Center: The Joint Information Center, which provides information on evacuation centers, animal evacuations and more, is closing at 8 p.m. Monday and will reopen at 8 a.m. Tuesday, the sheriff’s office said in its post on X. Its number is 970-980-2500.
— Sarah Kyle
The Alexander Mountain Fire is now measured at 864 acres, per the latest flight information, the U.S. Forest Service said in a post on X.
— Sarah Kyle
The evacuation center, previously located at Namaqua Elementary School has closed, according to a 5:55 p.m. press release from the American Red Cross of Northern Colorado. The organization is now operating an overnight shelter at Foundations Church at 1380 Denver Ave., Loveland, Colorado.
“Red Cross volunteers are providing immediate needs, supplies, support, and information. Food and water are available at the evacuation center as are medical services and mental health services,” the release says.
— Ignacio Calderon
Roads west of Buckhorn Road from Masonville to U.S. Highway 34 have joined the list of closures for the Alexander Mountain Fire, per a Coloradoan reporter on the scene. Sheriff’s vehicles are blocking the closed roads.
— Kelly Lyell
Kyle Cadarette, a resident of Storm Mountain, wasn’t sure why his phone call from the county’s emergency alert system told him to report to the fire crew staging area at Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch. But he figured as long as he was there, he might as well help out. So, he handed out dozens of bottles of water to fire crews and law enforcement personnel, then hitched a ride with a Coloradoan photographer into Loveland to purchase six more cases to distribute when they returned about an hour later.
His nephew was at the home with four or five friends, he said, when they were notified to evacuate immediately.
“They got a knock on the door, because there’s no cell phone (service) up there, there’s no TV, there’s no internet,” Cadarette said. “They got a knock on the door, and were told to get out, so they packed up, grabbed a couple things and left. My nephew left the generator running with the water and the hose going and the American flag hanging on the porch.”
His nephew and their friends drove to the evacuation center in Estes Park, he said, and checked in there.
“I’m glad everyone got off the mountain,” Cadarette said. “All the families that we know checked in as well, so everyone around our immediate area is doing good.”
Cadarette is no stranger to fire evacuations. He was evacuated from his family’s home on Storm Peak when they were evacuated for the Bobcat and Cameron Peak fires, too.
“It’s crazy. It’s unfortunate and crazy, but the price you pay to live in the mountains, the high desert,” he said.
Flames were visible at times from Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch throughout the afternoon burning on the top of ridgelines to the west.
— Kelly Lyell
Ninety horses were evacuated from Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch to another property under the same ownership as the fire moved down the ridgeline within about 1.5 miles of the ranch along U.S. Highway 34, near the mouth of the Big Thompson Canyon.
The ranch loaded up all of its trailers, then moved the remaining horses over in dozens of smaller trailers driven by friends and neighbors, who showed up to offer their assistance.
They had 70 horses moved by 3:30 p.m., and another 20 that were still being loaded into trailers to be transported, wrangler Evan Harmeyer said.
— Kelly Lyell
The nearest structure to the fire was the Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch, about 1.5 miles away, Larimer County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Services Coordinator Justin Whitesell said from the ranch while giving a 4 p.m. briefing.
No injuries had been reported, and no structures had been damaged, he said.
Firefighting was being conducted almost exclusively by aircraft, Whitesell said, so fire crews on the ground could focus their efforts on saving lives by knocking on doors, getting residents and large animals evacuated and protecting homes. The only firefighting crew working on containment from the ground at 4 p.m., Whitesell said, was a LCSO wildland unit.
The fire was estimated at 339 acres with 0% containment at that point. The fire was growing to the north and west, Whitesell said, and within a couple of miles of the burn scar from the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire, the state’s largest ever.
The fire was first reported in a 911 call received at 10:39 a.m., LCSO spokesperson David Moore said. It was immediately confirmed by remote cameras the county has in place to monitor for smoke and fires, and the first crew, from the Loveland Fire Department, responded within about 20 minutes, Whitesell said.
— Kelly Lyell
The Alexander Mountain Fire is burning almost entirely on National Forest land, according to Inciweb, an incident command website that tracks wildfires across the nation.
The USDA Forest Service is expected to assume command on Tuesday, the page noted, and it said a complex incident management team has been ordered.
Larimer County Sheriff’s Office assumed initial command of the fire, and Loveland Fire Authority was first on scene.
— Rebecca Powell
Poudre Valley REA crews are standing by to cut power in case they’re requested to do so for the safety of firefighters, crews between Loveland and Masonville told the Coloradoan.
Poudre Valley REA later clarified that its system isn’t currently impacted.
— Miles Blumhardt
A 3:50 p.m. post by the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office updated the size of the fire to 365 acres.
— Ignacio Calderon
The Larimer County Department of Natural Resources said in an X post that Horsetooth Reservoir is being used to support the wildfire operations and that the area should be avoided until further notice.
— Ignacio Calderon
As of 2:35 p.m., the fire was estimated to be 339 acres with 0% containment, Larimer County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson David Moore said. There were 28 crews on the fire from multiple agencies, including Loveland Fire Department, Poudre Fire Authority, U.S. Forest Service, Rocky Mountain National Park, Berthoud Fire Department, Allenspark, Glen Haven, Pinewood Springs, Estes Park and Windsor fire departments.
— Kelly Lyell
As a plume of smoke colored the sky from the growing Alexander Mountain Fire on Monday afternoon, Brian Kemper stood near the driver’s side of his Dodge Ram miles away at The Ranch’s emergency animal evacuation site.
A 14-year resident of Glade Road, Kemper said he piled his 10- and 12-year-old daughters and their menagerie of animals and pets into the truck as evacuation orders came through for the area earlier in the day.
There were horses Sally and Gypsy (Kemper’s daughter’s pony was already conveniently at The Ranch for the upcoming Larimer County Fair), five sheep, some panicked meowing barn cats, the family dog Sophie, a hamster and Buddy the axolotl — a ghost-white salamander-like creature sitting in a cellophane-wrapped tub of water on Kemper’s oldest daughter’s lap.
More: Where people, animals can evacuate to during Alexander Mountain Fire in west Loveland
Monday marked Kemper’s second time evacuating from his home, he said. As a former volunteer with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Posse, he was impressed to see how quickly the Posse, LCSO and The Ranch pulled together their evacuation efforts as he and a few other residents pulled up trailers to the complex’s animal evacuation lot as of 2:30 p.m. The family planned to stay with Kemper’s father in Loveland after dropping off their horses and sheep.
Horses, sheep, alpacas and goats from mandatory evacuation zones were being welcomed to The Ranch on Monday afternoon. Animals from pre-evacuation and volunteer evacuation zones were being directed to Island Grove Regional Park in Greeley, according to LCSO Sgt. Rafael Sanchez.
— Erin Udell
Pinewood and Flatiron reservoirs are shutting down, a Larimer County ranger told a Coloradoan reporter on the ground.
— Miles Blumhardt
Alexander Mountain Fire burns west of Loveland, Colorado
The Alexander Mountain Fire burning west of Loveland produced a large, visible plume of smoke Monday, July 29, 2024.
The Alexander Mountain Fire near Loveland is now 300 acres with no containment, Larimer County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson David Moore told the Coloradoan.
Coloradoan journalists could see flames on the nearest ridge from Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch.
— Kelly Lyell
These are the weather conditions near the Alexander Mountain Fire in Northern Colorado:
On Monday afternoon, a high of 93 and wind gusts as high as 15 mph are expected, according to the National Weather Service forecast for Drake.
Lows Monday night are expected to be around 61, with west winds of 7 to 9 mph gusting up to 15 mph.
On Tuesday, the forecast high is 94, with winds of 7 to 9 mph and gusts as high as 18 mph.
– Rebecca Powell
The U.S. Forest Service at 2:07 p.m. said four helicopters, one large air tanker, one multimission aircraft and Air Attack aerial supervision arrived on scene. One additional helicopter is also en route from Wyoming.
— Ignacio Calderon
Additional mandatory evacuations have been issued for County Road 18E from Pole Hill to Pinewood Reservoir. “Citizens in this area should EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY,” reads an emergency alert posted on X.
— Sarah Kyle
For more information about evacuation centers and animal evacuations, the Larimer County’s Sheriff’s office says a Joint Information Center will be available to call at 970-980-2500.
A new LETA alert says: “Large animals can be evacuated to The Ranch Events Center & Complex (5400 Arena Cir, Loveland). Small animals (dogs, cats, etc) can be evacuated to the NoCo Humane (970-226-3647 opt. 0).”
— Ignacio Calderon
NOCO Humane says it can temporarily house pets that are the size of a goat or smaller. Animals larger than that can be taken to The Ranch, Larimer County’s event complex in Loveland, 5280 Arena Circle.
You can contact NOCO Humane at 970-226-3647, option 0.
— Rebecca Powell
U.S. Highway 34 is closed from just east of the Dam Store near the mouth of Big Thompson Canyon to Estes Park.
Larimer County Road 43 is also closed, from Drake to Glen Haven, continuing on Devil’s Gulch Road to McGraw Ranch Road north of Estes Park.
— Rebecca Powell
In an X post by the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, the agency said, “Our partners with USFS and air resources have given a more accurate size-up at 247 acres as of 12:45pm.”
— Ignacio Calderon
New voluntary evacuations have been announced for:
- Residents living off of County Road 86C, north of Rustic
- Residents who live off of Glade Road, from U.S. Highway 34 north to Indian Creek
- Residents who live off of County Road 18E from County Road 31 to County Road 29
— Rebecca Powell
Evacuation centers for the Alexander Mountain Fire have been set up on either side of the fire. There’s one at Namaqua Elementary School at 209 N. Namaqua Ave. and another at the Estes Park Events Complex in Estes Park, 1125 Rooftop Way. Animals can be taken to The Ranch, 5290 Arena Circle.
— Ignacio Calderon
The Larimer Emergency Telephone Authority (LETA) said the earlier evacuations that were voluntary are now mandatory.
“Citizens previously on Voluntary Evacuation status including Waltonia Rd, Sylvan Dale to Ellis Ranch, and Eden Valley to Sunrise Ranch are now under Mandatory Evacuation. Citizens near Bobcat Ridge and Flatiron Reservoir must EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY,” the alert says.
— Ignacio Calderon
The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office shared on an X post that the fire, named Alexander Mountain Fire, is now 800 acres.
At 12:20 p.m., the Forest Service said the fire was around 100 acres.
“Local engines and crews are en route. Air support has been ordered,” the post says.
— Ignacio Calderon
The Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, which is handling the evacuations, shared LETA alerts for voluntary and mandatory evacuations:
“Voluntary Evacuations ordered for a wildfire near Storm Mountain. Citizens in the area of Waltonia Road, Eden Valley to Sunrise Ranch, and Sylvan Dale to Ellis Ranch please GATHER ESSENTIAL ITEMS AND PREPARE FOR EVACUATION,” one says.
“Mandatory Evacuations ordered for wildfire near Storm Mountain. Drake to Dam Store along Highway 34 including Storm Mountain and Palisade Mountain need to EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY,” the other says.
You can text LCEVAC to 888777 for more updates.
— Ignacio Calderon