Smoke

Crews are working to protect structures in the Wheeler Creek and Parsons Draw areas, faced with the possibility that the fire could move further east.

Firefighters, now numbering 514 in total, will not directly engage the fire in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness area, opting instead to patrol and assist Forest Service staff in keeping recreationists apprised of the area closure.

Troup torching and crowning kept up into the early hours of Tuesday, a period that typically sees less intense fire activity.

Engine crews worked Monday to prepare to defend buildings in the face of advancing flames. Crews are building contingency lines in places that give them the best shot at success.

"It's just not safe to put these firefighters right up against that fire," Sanchez says, citing hazards posed by the high percentage of beetle kill where the fire continues to burn.

Fire staff worked with Jackson County and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to evacuate dispersed campers on Independence Mountain late Tuesday.

Benson says "there's heavy beetle-kill timber in the area," making it difficult to closely estimate the size of the blaze.

The agency says the condition of native vegetation for wildlife and livestock on Pole Mountain is in decline.

Forest Service fire crews are preparing to burn slash piles at multiple locations throughout the Medicine Bow and Routt National Forests in Wyoming and Colorado. Even after multiple years of this type of work, it is estimated that hundreds of slash piles remain on the two National Forests...