“I was on the backside on 285 and I came back over at about 8 o’clock and it really started to take over and came over the top, it looked like a volcano,” said Salida native David Daley. 5.9K likes. Residences of the Bear Creek and Silver Heels areas in Chaffee County along with residences if Wellsville and Swissvale in Fremont County all remain evacuated, a total of 51 homes. The Decker Fire is burning in the Sangre de Cristo Wilderness area — nine miles south of Salida. This is Jim Linfoot. The Decker Fire has burned at least 2200 acres, and is now threatening homes. “You never think it’s going to happen to you, but we had done some planning, made checklists, but didn’t really start throwing things in boxes until last night when we really knew we had to go,” she said. The National Forest Service issued fire restrictions in parts of the state, including a ban on target shooting on Forest Service Lands. Although the Decker Fire was less active near Salida on Friday, crews were gearing up for a “pivotal day” in the fire on Saturday, officials said. It’s got to be difficult!! She was evacuated from her home in the hills just above Salida in the middle of the night. Late Tuesday afternoon a very large plume of smoke could be seen by a satellite moving northeast in the general direction of Denver 95 miles to the northeast. Click here. Residents in the Mountain Vista Village, Methodist Mountain, Fawn Ridge Estates, Boot Hill and Pinon Ridge Estates between County Road 110 to County Road 104 have been told to leave. Map by Kevin Hamm and Daniel J. Schneider. The Grand County sheriff confirmed late Friday that an elderly couple who'd refused to evacuate their home as the East Troublesome fire advanced on Grand Lake this week perished in the wildfire. The Decker Fire activity has been limited the last couple of days by cooler temperatures, higher humidity and less wind. An evacuation center has been set up at the United Methodist Church in Salida. Roads have been closed in the area. The west side of the fire is largely contained at this time. On Thursday, winds calmed to about 15 mph with gusts up to 25 mph, but they can “still contribute to an increase in fire behavior,” said Mark Giacoletto, incident commander. Boot Hill and areas including Methodist Mountain, Pinon Ridge Estates, the Fawn Ridge subdivision and Mountain Vista Village have been evacuated. So it is a real close-knit community that takes care of each other,” Wilken said. The Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest It’s a pretty amazing thing.”. “When we have vehicles stopped on the side of the road and people getting out of their cars, it is creating a hazard for other passing vehicles,” said Tyler Carlson, a maintenance supervisor with CDOT. has issued a speed reduction of 40 mph on Highway 50 east of Salida and on Highway The center is located in the United Methodist Church in Salida, which is located at 228 E. 4th Street. This includes homes, warehouses, land, and shopping centers. As of Monday, it had burned slightly more than a square mile. Patience, grasshopper. The wind … Howard, Wellsville, Coaldale, Cotopaxi, Texas Creek and Canon City are expected to see smoke and may have moderate to unhealthy air quality. The fire has burned just under 6,000 acres and is 5 percent contained. Close to 800 people are working on the fire. (credit: CBS). How you can help victims of Colorado's wildfires. I have lived in this smoky hell now for nearly a month. He started at the Post in 1986, at the old building on 15th and California streets. The map defaults to Colorado; to see all wildfires, click “U.S.” in the view area.