Weather conditions give Sylvan Fire crews a boost on limiting spread

Thanks to favorable weather and increased firefighting personnel, the Sylvan Fire south of Eagle grew only slightly to 3,752 acres overnight Wednesday, according to a U.S. Forest Service incident report from Thursday morning, June 24. Here’s a USFS press release issued on Wednesday evening, June 23:

EAGLE, Colo. – The weather conditions were favorable for firefighters on the Sylvan Fire today. They were able to construct direct fireline around the 20-30 acres that crossed FSR 400 (West Brush Creek Road) yesterday, as well as the approximate 100 acres that crossed the powerline road and burned to Sylvan Lake yesterday.

Additional resources have been arriving. About 195 personnel are working the fire, along with three heavy helicopters and a light helicopter. An additional heavy helicopter will arrive tomorrow.

The fire grew little today, and most of the smoke seen was from vegetation continuing to burn within the interior of the fire. The most recent acreage estimate from this morning is 3,583 acres.

The Rocky Mountain Type 1 Incident Management Team will assume management of the fire beginning tomorrow and will be based out of the Eagle Valley Middle School in Eagle. People should be aware of increased fire traffic in the downtown Eagle area and along Brush Creek Road.

For the latest maps and information about the Sylvan Fire, visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7562/. Future Facebook updates will be posted directly to a dedicated Facebook page @sylvanfireinformation. 

For the latest information about pre-evacuation or evacuation notices, visit www.ecemergency.org or Eagle County and www.pitkincounty.com for Pitkin County.