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Ongoing coverage of the Lake Christine Fire from Aspen Public Radio News

Lake Christine Fire 30 Percent Contained

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The Lake Christine Fire is estimated at 5,916 acres and 30 percent contained. 

At a community meeting Sunday evening, operations section chief Keith Brink said crews are "making good headway on this fire." 

Because of this progress, up to 200 crew members may be released from the Lake Christine Fire over the next couple of days to work elsewhere in the state. 

The fire grew about 200 acres during the day Sunday. Crews on the northern perimeter of the fire are working to direct the burn away from homes and toward the northeast and into steep and rocky terrain. 

There have been several injuries to firefighters, said incident commander Mike Almas. These include knee injuries from working in steep and challenging terrain, burns and minor injuries from a bulldozer that rolled over Saturday. 

All evacuations within in the Town of Basalt will be lifted by tomorrow morning, including the Wilds subdivision and Ridge Rd, said Basalt police chief Greg Knott. The east side of Upper Cattle Creek Rd and Cedar Dr. beyond the intersecion with Pinon will remain closed. 

Black Hills Energy officials said gas has been restored to 75 percent of Missouri Heights and the entire mobile home park. Crews will be working to restore services as evacuation orders are lifted. 

As residents return home this evening, Almas said, they will see what looks like a lot of candles burning on the hillsides. This is from large fuels like trees that are burning out; it is not a threat to people or their homes. He asked that residents do not call 911 in these cases. 

Aspen native Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is excited to be making a return to both the Red Brick, where she attended kindergarten, and the field of journalism. She has spent her entire life playing in the mountains and rivers around Aspen, and is thrilled to be reporting about all things environmental in this special place. She attended the University of Colorado with a Boettcher Scholarship, and graduated as the top student from the School of Journalism in 2006. Her lifelong love of hockey lead to a stint working for the Colorado Avalanche, and she still plays in local leagues and coaches the Aspen Junior Hockey U-19 girls.