STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, COLORADO- The Middle Fork Fire is located on the Middle Fork of Mad Creek on the border of Mount Zirkel Wilderness and Routt National Forest, roughly 10 miles north of Steamboat Springs near US Forest Trails 1168 (Luna Lake & 1168.1A (Fish Hawk).

First reported on Sunday, September 6, 2020, the fire has grown to the east into the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness area but has several miles in each direction before effecting inhabited areas. Hunters and recreators in the immediate area are urged to leave as it is not safe due to erratic winds, high heat, and low humidity as a cold front moves into Colorado.

Currently, Craig Interagency has aircraft over the area and estimates that the fire has potentially grown from 200 acres at noon today to an 12:00 today to currently 500-700 acres, however due to the amount of smoke the size can not be confirmed.

*At 18:00 today Colorado’s Multi-Mission Aircraft (MMA) will fly over the region and provide a more accurate mapping of the fire area. The MMA has state of the art infrared and color sensors which allow for accurate mapping at high altitudes.

“There are two type-1 helicopters along with a crew monitoring the fire,” said Aaron Voss, Public Affairs Specialist Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests and Thunder Basin National Grassland. “Additional resources have been ordered as teams continue to monitor the fire and order more as needed.

Information for the Middle Fork Fire in the Routt National Forest, north of Steamboat Springs, can be found on Twitter, @FS_MBRTB and InciWeb https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7153/.