Fire Update, July 2nd

Well, the fire is still burning.

It has grown to over 13,000 acres, and still impacting our town of DeBeque. While the plumes of smoke have decreased we still smell the smoke in the air and see the aircraft and helicopters flying overhead as they make their way to and from the fire’s perimiter. Hotshot crews are still in town and the local high school is still active as the incident command center.

The fire is getting a lot of local media attention. We have nightly live reports from the TV stations in Grand Junction, and some updates are being posted in Garfield County media. (The fire is in Mesa County. Garfield County is the next county to the east.)

We have returned to a more natural frame of mind. This last weekend we did all our normal things, like mowing the lawn, grocery shopping, and chores around the house. Talk of evacuating the town is no longer heard, and the small area that had been evacuated in case the fire jumped  I-70 had the evacuation order lifted. People could return to their homes, and no homes or property were damaged.

The greatest concern for DeBeque is loss of power if the fire spreads into the area of the power lines. These come out of Grand Junction and follow the Colorado River up to DeBeque. The fire is heading south-west toward these lines, but it seems the fire is on top of the mesa and not along the river proper, thus staying away from the lines for the moment.

Some of the media reports have been inaccurate, such as the one in the Glenwood Post Independent that said residents had been evacuated from east of DeBeque. Not true.  We are about 32 miles from Grand Junction, although the towns of Palisade and Clifton are a few miles closer. One site put the fire 13 miles from Grand Junction, which would put the fire some 9 – 10 miles  from DeBeque instead of the actual 2 – 3 miles. I-70 runs more-or-less east and west, but does take some turns north and south as it follows the Colorado River. It seems odd to read phrases like “east of I-70” or “west of I-70” when, to us, the directions are north or south of I-70.  Oh well.

That’s about it. Although the fire is still burning, and is only about 35% contained at this time, it has dropped from being a concern for us. Life has pretty much returned to nornal.

That’s it for now. Thanks for looking in!