Pine Gulch Fire Now Largest Active Wildfire in the US
I've been keeping a close eye on the largest wildfires across the United States and it looks like the Pine Gulch Fire that is burning about 18 miles north of Grand Junction has just taken the title of the largest. Which is something we did not want to have happened. This is according to the National Interagency Fire Center website that gets updated daily.
The Pine Gulch Fire has now reached over 69,135 acres and remains at just 7% containment. The fire got started two weeks ago today (Friday, July 31st) and was caused by a lightning strike. The fire crews have been working hard over the past few weeks but the weather we have been experiencing with the hot temperatures makes the fire more unpredictable and difficult to control.
As of 6 a.m. this morning we got word that the Pine Gulch Fire will be transitioning command between the Rocky Mountain Type 2 Team Black and the Rocky Mountain Type 1 Incident Management Team. So basically we have some very elite firefighters who are working to contain this fire.
There have been evacuations that have taken place specifically at Roan Creek Road, Clear Creek Road, Carr Creek Road, and Brush Creek Road. But if you want to know more about the evacuations the best place to go is visit the Garfield County website by clicking here.
The weather this weekend doesn't seem like it is going to help the firefighting operations as we are going to be near triple digits all weekend. But hopefully, these brave men and women have success battling the largest wildfire in the country which is now in our backyard.