LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. — The Larimer County Sheriff's Office sent out an emergency message for new mandatory evacuations Friday morning after the Cameron Peak Fire saw its largest growth of the week.
Cameron Peak Fire officials ordered mandatory evacuations for residents and businesses in the the area of County Road 44H to County Road 27 for immediate and imminent danger. Just hours earlier they also issued mandatory evacuations for Pingree Park and Monument Gulch areas.
Fire officials say to evacuate the area immediately and as quickly as possible. They say not to take time to gather belongings or protect homes and businesses.
The National Weather Service said there was active fire behavior overnight starting around 1:30 a.m.
Unfortunately, the night shift here witnessed active fire behavior on portions of the #CameronPeakFire. Satellite and radar both indicated an increase in fire activity around 1:30 am, which continues as of this time (5:30 am 10/9/2020) #COwx pic.twitter.com/EU6GJdOIUj
— NWS Boulder (@NWSBoulder) October 9, 2020
On Saturday, Cameron Peak fire officials downgraded the evacuation status from mandatory to voluntary for the following notification areas: Crystal Lakes, Red Feather Lakes, Lady Moon and Red Feather Highlands. Voluntary evacuations will remain in place for those areas until further notice.
The fire grew about 3,000 acres to 131,121 acres and containment was upped from 42% to 44%, though more structures could possible be threatened, including the Colorado State University mountain campus and the Pingree subdivision.
Crews are still facing extremely dry conditions and warmer weather, with no chance for precipitation in coming days. Cameron Peak Fire spokesman Robert Francis called the conditions "really extremely dangerous fire conditions," and said ground fuels are "extremely flammable."
Residents and businesses can text the word LCEVAC to 888777 to get updates.
Other mandatory evacuations remain in place for Red Feather Lakes, Crystal Lakes and Glacier View. Go here for a full list of Larimer County evacuations and road closures.
This is a developing story and will be updated.