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Peak 2 Fire: Hundreds of residents allowed to go back home Friday evening, Undersheriff says

Posted at 10:01 AM, Jul 07, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-08 00:42:04-04

BRECKENRIDGE, Colo. – Residents in the Peak 7 subdivision will be allowed to go back home at 8 p.m. Friday, the Summit County Undersheriff announced during a press briefing as firefighters continue to battle an 84-acre blaze near Breckenridge. 

The Summit County Undersheriff also said evacuation orders for the 463 residents in the area will be lifted, but pre-evacuation notices would remain in place for the Peak 7 subdivision as well as the Farmer’s Korner, Gold Hill and Silver Shekel neighborhoods. The Town of Breckenridge also remains under a pre-evacuation notice. 

The Peak 2 Fire burning west of Breckenridge didn’t grow in size overnight into Friday morning, and crews will continue to build containment lines Friday with favorable weather conditions expected.

A Type 1 incident command team, the Rocky Mountain Area Type 1 Team, took over command of the fire at 6 a.m. Friday.

PHOTOS: See shots from the fire by tapping on this link. | MAP: See fires currently burning in Colorado

The fire remains 84 acres in size and is 25 percent contained as of Friday evening. Authorities said at a 10 a.m. news conference in Frisco that about 60 percent of a fire line had been built, but said that they didn't want to classify any more of the fire as contained because of a high number of spot fires that burned Thursday and the ongoing danger of falling trees.

Watch the full news conference by clicking here or in the video player above.

Incident commander Todd Pechota said crews found 157 separate spot fires on Thursday alone.

"I'm scared we're going to get somebody killed -- not from the fire, but from trees falling over, Pechota said. "Today, what I told our folks is based on the weather and the predicted fire behavior today and tomorrow. I think the fire is going to do exactly what it did yesterday, which is not much. So we have to take our time."

The Summit County Sheriff's Office says the Peak 7 neighborhood evacuation will remain in effect, but will be evaluated throughout the day. The neighborhood was evacuated Wednesday just hours after the fire started.

On Thursday, officials said the fire hadn’t gotten within 1 ½ miles of any of the neighborhoods.

Peaks Trail, Gold Hill, Wheeleter, Miners Creek and parts of the Colorado Trail are all closed. Miners Creek Road is also closed, and people should expect firefighter traffic on Highway 9 throughout the day.

Stage 1 fire restrictions remain in effect through the White River National Forest and much of Eagle, Garfield, Mesa, Rio Blanco and Summit counties.

There are 120 total personnel working the fire, including five engines, a helicopter and three crews.

The fire started just after 11 a.m. Wednesday and was discovered by a person mountain biking in the area, and has been burning through trees killed by beetles and other trees and grasses. Its cause remains undetermined.

We will be updating this story throughout the day Friday with the latest information from fire officials. More information on the fire can be found on Inciweb or on the fire’s Facebook or Twitter pages.

The next media briefing on the fire is expected to be held at 6 p.m. in Frisco.