SALIDA — The fire was fairly quiet overnight. Weather is helping to curb fire behavior with increased relative humidity (RH) as a result of the snow at higher elevations, accompanied by cooler temperatures. However, smoke will continue to be visible as the larger diameter fuels within the interior continue to smolder, and winds will continue to be a factor.

The black containment line has been extended in the area of the “thumb” and “fingers” on the E/SE side (Howard/Hwy 50 area). Crews continue working on suppression repair and have almost completed this section of the Rainbow Trail. Patrols will increase in the Bear Creek area now that the area has been repopulated. The spot fire in the SE corner continues to display minimal activity with occasional smoke.

The focus of work on the W/SW side (Poncha Pass/US 285 area) continues to be improving containment lines in the area of the Methodist repeater site, as well as suppression repair. The area of active fire near Simmons

Peak exhibited very little movement yesterday, in part due to increased relative humidity and cooler temperatures.

The fire along the “minimal risk, limited action” brown line on the N/NW side is slowly backing down the ridge, and will continue to be monitored. Additional action may be taken as warranted. Crews have reset structure protection equipment in the Pinyon Ridge and Boot Hill neighborhoods as a precautionary measure only.

Suppression repair on CR101 and CR124 are expected to be completed in the next day or two, weather permitting.

w At 10 a.m. on Monday, the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office removed the check point on CR 108. Access to Methodist Estates and Boot Hill subdivisions has been reopened; however, people who do not live in these neighborhoods are asked to refrain from driving into the area as there are still fire personnel and vehicles travelling these roads.

w The Fremont County Sheriff’s Office lifted the evacuation order for the Bear Creek neighborhood as of 1 p.m. on Monday. Only residents of Bear Creek will be allowed back into the area.

Residents must show their re-entry credentials to security at the checkpoint. Bear Creek will remain

on a pre-evacuation status until further notice.

w A Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) Team began assessments in the area of the fire today. A BAER assessment addresses post-wildfire issues, including closures and Public Safety: For road closures in Chaffee, Fremont and Saguache County, please refer to the following resources. San Isabel Forest closures: https://tinyurl.com/SanIsabelClosures. Rio Grande

Forest closures: https://tinyurl.com/RioGrandeClosures. BLM closures: Facebook @BLMColoradoFire and

https://tinyurl.com/BLMCLosure. Please respect closures. For evacuation or pre-evacuation information, please contact the Chaffee County Sheriff’s Office: 719-539-2596, or the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office: 719-276-5555 or go to the Chaffee County Sheriff or Fremont County Sheriff Facebook pages and websites.