CASPER, Wyo. — The Mullen Fire has grown to 117,240 acres based on infrared measurements conducted just after midnight on Thursday, Oct. 1, according to updates from incident command posted to InciWeb.
The fire has also crossed over from Wyoming into Colorado on its southwest perimeter, an interactive story map of the fire shows.
The fire is expected to continue spreading for at least the next 72 hours.
“Throughout the night, firefighters worked to prepare structures for possible impacts from fire, and defend homes in and near the fire footprint,” the update adds. “More firefighters continue to arrive to reinforce more than 900 personnel who are already assigned to the fire.”
When winds were favorable overnight, firefighters conducted burnout operations in an effort to limit the spread of of the fire. That included removing fuels along roads, fire lines and natural features.
“West of Albany, a burnout south of the 500, 513 and 542 Roads began a control line to improve the defense of Albany, Keystone and areas east of Rob Roy Reservoir,” the update states. “Southeast of the fire, firefighters worked to interrupt the fire’s progression to the southeast, by burning out fuels on the west side of Wyoming Hwy 230/Colorado Hwy 127, on the Wyoming-Colorado border just southwest of Mountain Home and Wyocolo.”
“If a new perimeter measurement is available today, our interactive Story Map (https://arcg.is/1mnyXL) will display it. This online map includes features to look up your address and measure the distance to the fire – or between the fires.”
The fire has resulted in evacuation order in both Wyoming and Colorado. Evacuation information posted to InciWeb is as follows:
Mandatory Evacuations:
East of HWY 11 along Sheep Mountain, from Fox Creek Road, North to Hecht Creek
Fox Creek Road including areas west of Hwy 11 south of the Middle Fork Canyon
Communities of:
Rambler
Albany
Fox Park
Wold
Woods Landing
Graham and adjacent areas
Lower Keystone
Moore’s Gulch
Yankee Road towards Woods Landing, including a few properties on Fox Cabin Trail
Pre-Evacuations:
Meadow Plains Road south to Yankee Road
Areas near Sheep Mountain to Lake Hattie Reservoir and North of Hwy 230
Centennial
EVACUATION ORDERS IN COLORADO:
Jackson County Sheriff’s Office (https://www.facebook.com/JacksonCountySheriffOffice) has announced a pre-evacuation notice for the area of 3-way and north on Highway 125 and Highway 127.
Larimer County (https://nocoalert.org/) has ordered Mandatory Evacuations for the areas of Roach and Hohnholz in the northwest part of Larimer County along County Road 103.InciWeb
An area closure is also in effect:
NATIONAL FOREST AREA CLOSURE
A Forest area closure is in effect surrounding the Mullen Fire, and the public is urged to respect this order that helps firefighters work more safely. For details, see the Forest Closure Order (https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/photos/WYMBF/2020-09-17-1921-Savage-Run-Fire/related_files/pict20200827-080202-0.pdf) and the Forest Closure Area Map (https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/photos/WYMBF/2020-09-17-1921-Savage-Run-Fire/related_files/pict20200827-080133-0.pdf)
InciWeb
This article originally appeared on Oil City News. Used with permission.
