Strategies for fighting the East Troublesome Fire were discussed Saturday morning as the wildfire made its way east across Rocky Mountain National Park/NPS

In a rugged, heavily forested setting where firefighters were largely limited in how they could attack the main front of the East Troublesome Fire as it burned across Rocky Mountain National Park, a winter storm came to the rescue, dropping snow and raising humidity levels that slowed the flames.

Snow was expected to continue in the park through Sunday before tapering off early Monday, with a foot or more falling on the wildfire. Daytime high temperatures weren't expected to get out of the lower 20s Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

Though the wildfire made a strong run across the park Saturday, with gusting winds splitting the flames into two fingers and forcing the evacuation of the Estes Park Valley on the eastern border of Rocky Mountain, the wet cold front that arrived that evening helped keep the fire west of the Bear Lake Trail Ridge roads on the eastern side of the park.

One arm of the fire had moved northeast along the Big Thompson River to Moraine Park, while another headed east along Mill Creek into Hollowell Park. Structural fire engines stood ready to defend structures within Rocky Mountain National Park and the Estes Park community.

During the day Saturday, firefighters used fuel-type changes, such as wetlands and other features, to piece together three miles of fireline to deflect the fire from progressing further east. Also aiding the effort were previous fuel reduction treatments conducted by park staff that allowed firefighters to aggressively execute direct attack on front of the fire. 

With winds lessening and snow and moisture that fell across the fire Saturday night into Sunday, no active spread of the fire was expected Sunday, a park release said. 

On the western side of the park, in the "Grand Zone" of the East Troublesome Fire, there was minimal growth in the fire Saturday despite the red flag warning and high winds. Firefighters had a productive day and made good progress on the containment effort, the park reported. The team assigned resources to the Holzwarth Historic Site area of the Kawuneechee Valley in the park to begin prep work in the event the fire crosses the access road approximately 1 mile to the south.  

The East Troublesome Fire, which started on October 14, has grown to more than 190,000 acres. The fire was initially burning outside of Rocky Mountain National Park’s boundary. However, on October 21, the fire grew more than 100,000 acres and jumped into the western side of the park then spotted over the Continental Divide to the east side of the park.

On October 22 the park was closed to visitors due to the fire and efforts to battle it.