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Full Containment on High Park Fire Expected This Weekend [Updated]

Grace Hood

6:30 p.m.

Containment is now at 85 percent for the High Park Fire.

11 a.m.

If current weather conditions hold, officials estimate the High Park Fire could be fully contained sometime this weekend.

“…which means it’s fully secured, it’s not out by any means,” said Incident Commander Beth Lund during a morning briefing.

About 1900 evacuees are being allowed back into their homes today. Rist Canyon reentry will take place at 5 p.m.

Lower parts of Stove Prairie and Paradise Park will be opened up today as well.

This is a residents-only reentry, according to John Schulz with the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office. Credentials will be required.

Schulz says that residents going into the fire zone need to be watchful of landslides.

“With some of the rains last night there will be rocks sliding down into the roads. They pretty much have the trees cleaned up that were blocking the roads, but it’s always possible that that could occur as well,” he says.

Right now the fire zone remains at 87,284 acres. Containment is at 75 percent.

Incident Commander Beth Lund says personnel working the fire decreased by about 500 people to 1300 today. Some of those workers are on mandatory rest time while others are being dispatched to fires in Boulder and Colorado Springs.

“There were a lot of folks on this fire. So we’re trying to scale down, save costs and be commensurate with the work that we have left to do,” says Lund.

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