Iran Press/America: The fire has killed two, with the confirmation that an elderly couple was killed while trying to ride out the blaze at their home near Grand Lake.
Some reports show the fire may have moved significantly closer to Estes Park overnight — perhaps as close as one mile, with firefighters calling in more resources Saturday. In a morning video briefing Saturday, Paul Delmerico, operations section chief on the fire, said the fire is “just west” of the Bear Lake area in Estes Park.
The high winds are preventing fire suppression aircraft from flying, and firefighters are using satellite imagery to locate the blaze.
Winds in Estes Park on Saturday morning were gusting to about 50 mph out of the west, with temperatures that are expected to climb into the 60s with extremely low relative humidity. Even stronger winds are in the vicinity of the fire at higher altitudes.
Red flag warnings are in effect for the Rockies as low humidity combines with high winds to create “critical” fire weather conditions, the second-most severe category on the fire risk scale. The Cameron Peak blaze, located just a few miles from the East Troublesome fire and the state’s largest on record, is also expanding Saturday, satellite heat detections show. There is even a possibility the two fires could merge before the cold front settles the blazes Saturday night.
The fire has been so severe it jumped the continental divide, a span of two miles that contains mainly rocky terrain. The fire grew an astonishing 140,000 acres in size between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday and stood at 188,389 acres as of Saturday afternoon.
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