Firefighters are preparing for the worst after evacuation orders were issued recently for residents in Colfax County affected by the Calf Canyon/Hermits Peak Fire.
“As the fire continues to move north, it will continue to impact communities to the north as well as to the west and to the east,” incident commander David Bales told KOB. “Our folks are running models to predict the fire behavior.”
The flames were just 12 miles away from Angel Fire when the evacuation was ordered, according to the report. Resources to prevent damage and aid in the recovery effort are already being deployed to the area. Fleeing residents are naturally concerned about their property and safety.
“It’s a little bit unsettling,” Kyle Price, an Angel Fire resident, told KOB. “We are prepared to leave even before the ‘Go’ signal.”
About 1,000 people are currently living there now, but the resort town normally swells to about 10,000 by Memorial Day weekend. Many of the homes are in densely forested mountainous areas, according to the KOB report.
“It’s kind of nerve-wracking knowing it’s right behind me basically, seeing the ominous cloud of smoke,” Vences Martinez, another resident, told KOB.
At least 10 agencies from Colfax County have responded to the fires along with state and federal resources on the ground and in the air, the report said.
“This is a large fire," Kevin Henson, Angel Fire’s fire chief, told KOB, adding that coordinating with Colfax County agencies can be difficult. "A lot of resources have been at this fire for over a month. If the fire came here, we’re not going to stop the fire here. We’re going to try to prevent human loss and property loss.”