Some additional information on the Hayman fire:
– The map to the right shows the fire shaded in red. Populated areas are shaded in purple. Although this data is from the past 24 hours, it is still most likely out-of-date; the fire has almost certainly grown since this map was created. (Note: I’ve removed this version of the map; see above for a more current map)
– This morning’s report from the National Interagency Fire Center, which tracks all fire activity nationwide, describes the status of the Hayman fire as follows:
HAYMAN, Pike-San Isabel National Forest. A Type 1 Incident Management Team (Martin) has been ordered. This fire is burning six miles northwest of Lake George, CO in ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forest. High rates of spread to the north and east with extreme fire behavior were observed. Several camps, ranches, recreation areas and towns are being evacuated with 3,700 residences threatened. Twenty commercial structures and one outbuilding were lost.
A Type 1 team represents the highest level of escalation. Fires are generally managed by local resources, and then a regional team is called in if needed — a Type 2 team. For the most serious fires, a Type 1 team is called in — these are Federal fire management professionals. There are about twenty teams nationwide, and three active in Colorado currently. The Federal teams come with both experienced management resources to determine the most effective methods to attack and contain the fire, as well as personnel and equipment such as air tankers.
– The incident teams are reporting the following statistics about the fire:
269 people are currently dedicated to fighting the fire
3,700 homes are currently identified as threatened
The fire is estimated at 10% contained, which indicates it is essentially uncontrolled at this time
The fire behavior is being described as “extreme”, and the rate of spread is estimated at 1-2 miles per hour. (Look again at the map and the scale to understand the significance of that number).
The following media resources are tracking the fire closely and have photos & video of the situation:
– NBC affiliate
KMGH – ABC affiliate, “The Denver Channel”
PS – In case you are wondering, none of the data I’m providing is “inside” info from my father; it is all coming from publicly available resources. However, I’m going to break a blogging rule-of-thumb and not provide URLs for the moment, as these resources are the same ones that the actual fire teams use. And on the unlikely event my traffic spikes today, I don’t want to be responsible for hundreds of unanticipated hits bringing down those sites…