Social Media, Evacuation and Closure Information: https://linktr.ee/2026ElkPublic
Acres: 2,300 – Containment: 0% – Detection: 07/09/26 – Cause: Lightning – Personnel: 415 Location: North of Lake City, Colorado
Public Meeting: July 20, at 6:00 p.m. at the Lake City Community School. Livestreamed via the Hinsdale County Facebook page for those not able to attend in person. A Facebook account is not required to view the event.
Operational Update: The fire itself was quiet yesterday with creeping and smoldering reported. A helispot was constructed north of the fire, structure assessment and protection began in Devils Creek, and a location for a primary control line was identified that will safeguard all structures in Lake City.
Today: Helicopters will deliver hose, fittings and other supplies to the new helispot, allowing the establishment of hose lays on completed dozer line to Highway 149. Structure protection will be ongoing and construction of a primary control line north and west of Lake City will continue. Air support remains available as needed.
Roads: Motorists should stay alert and use caution due to increased firefighter traffic and reduced speed limits on Highway 149 and County Road 20. The Alpine Loop is open and there are no closures on County Road 30 (Cinnamon Pass) where trails and campgrounds remain open.
Weather: Partly cloudy in the morning, becoming mostly cloudy in the afternoon and evening with a 40% chance of thunderstorms late morning to afternoon. Daytime valley temperatures, mid-80s, in the fire footprint, mid-70s.
Evacuations: Evacuations remain in effect with current information available at the links below:
Hinsdale County: https;//hinsdalecounty.colorado.gov
Gunnison County: https://emergency.gunnisoncounty.org/elk-fire. To sign up and receive emergency alerts for Gunnison County visit: https://emergency.gunnisoncounty.org/preparedness/sign-up/
Closures: The National Forest has implemented an area closure west of Highway 149 and north of County Road 20 in Hinsdale and Gunnison Counties. For further information visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/gmug/alerts
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has implemented a temporary emergency closure for public lands, roads, and trails north of County Road 20 (Engineer Pass), including Nellie Creek, the Uncompahgre Trailhead, and the upper portion of County Road 24 (North Henson) from Capitol City, Wetterhorn and Matterhorn. For further infor-mation visit: https://www.blm.gov/programs/public-safety-and-fire/fire-and-aviation/regional-information/colo-rado/southwest-district
Road Closures: Forest Service Road 7868 (Alpine Road) remains closed. Some public maps display the route as Road 868. Forest Service roads 877 (Nellie Creek) and 870 (Matterhorn Trailheads) to the north are closed.
No Fly Zone: A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) over the area remains in effect. Flying drones near the fire is pro-hibited and can interfere with firefighting aircraft, potentially grounding aerial suppression operations. http://knowbeforeyoufly.org.
Inciweb: https://inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/cogmf-elk-fire Email: 2026.elk@firenet.gov Phone: 970-299-5357
