If you ever have a serious wildfire threatening your neighborhood, you want this man running the Type I response team:

He is Ron Raley, California Type 1 Team 5 Incident Commander for the US Forest Service. In essence, he is in charge of the fire fighting efforts for the North Hayman Fire. His crews have made great progress in the past few days of favorable weather. His briefings are clear, succinct, and forthright. He is genuinely concerned with returning people safely to their homes. It was an honor to shake his hand. (Fancy me saying that about a government official!)

The Douglas County web site seems to be doing a good job keeping their information on the fire up to date. (It’s easier now that the fire isn’t wildly out of control!) The fire status page is particularly useful. And I learned from the evacuation page that our neighborhood of Indian Creek is still on standby.

The fact sheet from the informational meeting tonight describes the behavior of the fire. It says: “Fire is creeping on the ground with occasional torching and a few short, intense runs; fire is spreading in multiple directions, southeast and northeast. Growth potential is extreme; terrain is difficult.” It also mentions that the fire had burned 102,895 acres as of yesterday evening.

On the north side of the fire, the real danger lies in the north side of inside the “claw,” along the South Platte River. (That’s where the arrows are pointing on the map from the meeting below.) They have been backburning in that area to protect the homes, but unfavorable winds could cause the fire to jump the river and head northeast towards us again.

With favorable weather, they expect to get the fire under control in the next few days. (That doesn’t include the portion of the fire along the west side that is burning wilderness.) So let’s just hope the good weather holds!