Alexander Mountain Fire prompts evacuations in Colorado, Larimer County wildfire quickly grows to 247 acres
Mandatory evacuations have been ordered near Storm Mountain and Palisade Mountain due to an approximately 250-acre wildfire now named the Alexander Mountain Fire in Larimer County.
The area in question is about 20 miles west of Loveland and thick smoke was clearly visible from as far as Fort Collins and Boulder.
The evacuation zone covers Drake to Dam Store along Highway 34, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office and the U.S. Forest Service and Loveland Fire Rescue are currently responding. A second mandatory evacuation zone was ordered around 1:40 p.m. for County Road 18 East from Pole Hill to Pinewood Reservoir.
People are being asked to avoid the area of Highway 34, which is now closed in both directions, and nearby residents have been ordered to evacuate immediately.
Evacuation centers have been set up at Namaqua Elementary School, at 209 North Namaqua Avenue, and the Estes Park Events Complex in Estes Park, at 1125 Rooftop Way. The evacuation location for animals is The Ranch, at 5290 Arena Circle.
The sheriff's office said the fire grew to 800 acres at 12:35 p.m., but the U.S. Forest Service said it flew over the fire and mapped it at about 250 acres around 12:45 p.m.
That fire is burning on Forest Service land and the agency now has several aircraft working to extinguish the fire. Those include four helicopters, one large air tanker and a multi-mission plane. The U.S. Forest Service says an additional helicopter from Wyoming was also en route as of about 2 p.m.
Voluntary evacuations were ordered around 12:15 p.m. for the areas of Waltonia Road, Eden Valley to Sunrise Ranch and Sylvan Dale to Ellis Ranch.
Linda Renaud, who lives near Storm Mountain, is within the mandatory evacuation zone.
"We can see the fire from the top of our hill- we can see the smoke. It doesn't appear to be that close to us but it's hard to judge," she told CBS News Colorado.
Renaud said she's preparing to evacuate and having evacuated for the Cameron Peak Fire in 2020, she's prepared for a quick exit.
"Don't have everything all gathered, but I'm about to throw a few things in a suitcase and put the pets in the car," she said. "We've got some friends that can probably put us up."
A map of the evacuation zone can be seen here:
For live updates from the county, you can text LCEVAC to 888777.
CBS News also has an interactive wildfire map that shows wildfires across the U.S. You can find that here.
