PL Gulch Fire reaches 1,404 acres in Rio Blanco County; County Road 5 closed
The fire was 5% contained Wednesday night, with 95 personnel assigned and a Type 3 incident-management team scheduled to take over Friday.
The PL Gulch Fire had burned 1,404 acres and was 5% contained Wednesday night in Rio Blanco County, while County Road 5 remained closed along part of the fire area, Colorado Emergency Management reported.
The fire was reported at 12:36 p.m. July 13 and is burning in piñon-juniper, sagebrush and grass fuels on Bureau of Land Management property, the InciWeb incident page says. Its point of origin is about 20 miles southwest of Meeker.
The closure covers County Road 5 from Mile Marker 22 to County Road 3. Fire managers’ objectives are to keep the fire north and east of County Road 5, south of County Road 76 and west of County Road 3. Nearby residences and oil-and-gas infrastructure are listed as values at risk. The incident page does not identify a community under an evacuation order.
The response included 95 personnel, 11 engines, three Type 2 hand crews, two Type 1 helicopters, eight smokejumpers, a fuels module, an air-attack platform and two single-engine air tankers. A Type 3 incident-management team was scheduled to take over at 6 a.m. Friday, July 17.
No immediately preceding official acreage or containment figures were available, so the change in the fire’s size or containment could not be calculated. InciWeb directs residents seeking evacuation information to the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office. The PL Gulch Fire is separate from the Aspen Acre Fire.