Oak Ridge Fire: Middle Creek Canyon evacs to lift Tuesday

(PUEBLO/CUSTER COUNTY, Colo.) — In an update on Monday evening, July 1, Pueblo County Sheriff David J. Lucero announced that evacuations for Middle Creek Canyon Road would be lifted on Tuesday, July 2.

Middle Creek Canyon was evacuated on Monday, June 24 due to the Oak Ridge Fire, and the mandatory evacuation has remained in place as the fire grew to 1,190 acres. On Monday evening, Sheriff Lucero said residents of Middle Creek Canyon Road can return home on Tuesday at noon, though they will remain under pre-evacuation status.

Vine Mesa, Cascade Avenue, Pine Avenue and Beulah Highlands Road remain on pre-evacuation status.

Containment of 5% was achieved on Monday morning, thanks to some rain and cloud cover over the weekend. Incident managers said the fire continues to burn large fuels on the interior of the fire, though the footprint did not increase on Monday.

The weather outlook for the next few days has some marginal cloud cover, though conditions will worsen by Thursday.

Also at the announcement on Monday, the Custer County Sheriff’s Office announced that it has signed a Delegation of Authority with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), authorizing the USFS to fight the Oak Ridge Fire when it leaves public lands and threatens private property.

The Pueblo County Sheriff signed the same legal agreement for private property in Pueblo County.

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