Although the Mullen Fire was still raging in the Medicine Bow National Forest on Monday night, there was some good news to report.
According to Monday evening’s Incident Overview, not only have ground and aerial operations succeeded in securing some containment lines near the fire’s heel on the west side, but the fire has slowed after coming out of wilderness.
Plus, the amount of acres affected by the fire have decreased.
The fire perimeter is now 13,504 acres (as opposed to 13,835 acres). The agency attributes the change to “more precise, refined mapping” on Monday.
The bad news is that there remains a high probability for fire growth.
The Forest Service says the fire could grow in any direction but the most likely directions are east and northeast.
“The fire is aligned with fuels & topography to possibly make a run up Mullen Creek headwaters, into Douglas Creek & Middle Fork Little Laramie,” the agency said.
The same evacuations remain in place with the addition of the Lake Creek community which has been evacuated by Albany County.
As for the immediate future, the only new information is that a virtual community meeting is being planned for Tuesday evening. No details are yet available but interested parties should continue to check the InciWeb site for the Mullen Fire.
On Tuesday, a “Type II Incident Management Team” will assume management of the fire on Tuesday.
Forest Service spokesman Aaron Voos told Cowboy State Daily on Monday that a “Type II” management assessment team will arrive Tuesday to assume management of the fire.
“Basically, they come in to assess the damage and what’s going on and then bring in the appropriate resources to combat the fire,” he said.
The assessment teams usually consist of around 30 members, but can quickly grow to 50 or 100 people with additional resources. Voos said the group won’t be as large this year due to coronavirus restrictions, but its members will still likely be in the area for about two weeks.
The story is developing and will be continuously updated on CowboyStateDaily.com.
