After a relatively calm week, the Fern Lake Fire burning in Rocky Mountain National Park is growing once again. The blaze, which was holding steady around 1030 acres, increased 46 acres sending up a sizable amount of smoke. The most active part of the fire is on the western edge of the blaze.
Allen Harrington, fire information manager at the park says dryer, warmer weather has increased the intensity of the blaze.
“ For the last three days there’s been very minimal smoke. Actually, from some of the comments today, [people] didn’t realize there was a fire, because the smoke hasn’t been visible from most locations in the park. Today, due to the temperatures the wind and lower humidity, it put up a good column of smoke."
Harrington says firefighters are actively working to suppress the fire, and are not allowing the blaze to burn uncontained.
The cause of the fire is under investigation, and park rangers are asking the public who may have been in the area of the blaze before 2 p.m. on Oct. 9 and saw anything ‘unusual or noteworthy’ to contact the National Park Service at 970-586-1399.
