Timelapse: Arthur Balluff
On July 5th, 2017, a blaze was detected on Peak 2 of Breckenridge in the Ten Mile Range. A mountain biker, enjoying the sunny weather noticed some smoke a little off the trail between Breckenridge and Frisco and went to briefly investigate to find what quickly grew into over 80 acres of flame-engulfed wilderness. Thankfully, his alert triggered Summit County’s firefighters to come in and fight from the ground and the air.
Across Lake Dillon
p: Jessie Unruh
Two fixed-winged planes have been taking off to douse the fire with slurry as well as helicopters coming in with water. All of Breckenridge is on pre-evacuation and all of Peak 7 has been fully evacuated since Wednesday evening. With 7% containment as of Thursday night.
130ft flames seen from town of Breckenridge
p: Leanne Wren
And all the while a second fire has sparked up on the other side of the highway up Baldy Mountain this morning. The smoke was spotted early and Breckenridge’s emergency services went right to it, extinguishing it within a few hours.
Helicopter coming in for air support
p: screenshot Jessie Unruh
Breckenridge and all of Summit County are now in a full fire ban. And if you are in the area, be careful and pay attention. Rain has been elusive for too long so the environment is dry and dusty. Small sparks could cause something devastating so do not have camp fires, smoke outside, shoot guns or fireworks and other sorts.
Billowing smoke p: Jessie Unruh