Colorado September Storm Drops 8-14 Inches Of Snow On Cameron Peak Fire
LARIMER COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - After explosive growth during the record heat over the Labor Day weekend, the summer snow helped firefighters keep the Cameron Peak Fire in check on Tuesday. Between 8 and 14 inches of snow fell on the burn area, and the eastward progress of the fire was halted. The wildfire remained at 102,596 acres on Wednesday morning -- it is the fourth largest wildfire in Colorado history. The containment is still listed at 4% but firefighters are hoping to up that percentage quickly after getting a boost from Mother Nature. With more warm, dry weather ahead this weekend, though, there is concern it will flare up again.
On Tuesday morning, the evacuation status for several areas was downgraded to voluntary from mandatory and residents were allowed to return home. Voluntary evacuations remain in place for those areas until further notice.
LINK: NoCo Alerts
The Cameron Peak Fire is burning 25 miles east of Walden and 15 miles southwest of Red Feather Lakes.
It nearly tripled in size between Saturday and Tuesday.
PHOTO GALLERY: Cameron Peak Fire
The Larimer County Sheriff's Office is investigating reports of damaged structures in two different areas, Monument Gulch and Rustic, but trees blocking the roads made it difficult to confirm the extent of the damage.