Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team 3
When you hear the word “FOBS” in the wildland fire world, what exactly does that stand for and what does it mean? A field observer (FOBS) is someone who is responsible for collecting incident status information and providing those findings to other groups in the incident command system.
In this video, field observer Ryan Ricke explains more about his responsibilities and what his role has been on the Derby Fire. #derbyfire#FireYear2025
Derby Fire Update – September 1, 2025 Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team 3 Casey Cheesbrough, Jay Miller, Ben Sanders Incident Commanders Fire Information: 970-355-3283
Size: 5,475 acres Containment:Â 6% Total personnel: 578 Cause: Lightning Resources: 4 aircraft, 9 hand crews, 27 engines, 12 heavy equipment
Current situation:
A spike camp is located near West Fork Red Dirt Creek, east of the fire edge, allowing hotshot crews to reduce travel time to where they are building direct line on the fire’s edge. The hotshots are working south to eventually meet crews working up from Poison Creek on the southeast corner. This assignment may take several days to complete.
A combined group of 30 hotshots and highly skilled medical personnel will return by helicopter to the Hack Lake area to continue their work on the western perimeter. Being transported by helicopter allows the crew to save time and conserve energy for the day’s task, rather than making an arduous hike to the fireline. An Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) will scout for areas of heat in spots outside the perimeter in the northwest portion of the fire and south of the Flat Top Wilderness area. UAS reconnaissance flights identify areas of heat providing crews with coordinates to effectively locate them.
Firefighters continue backhauling excess structure protection equipment from areas where it is no longer needed. Crews continue to patrol and monitor the southern portion of the fire, searching out areas of heat and extinguishing them as they work towards containment. Crews will also monitor and maintain structure protection systems that remain along the Sweetwater, Sheep Creek, and Red Dirt Creek roads.
Weather and fire behavior:
Smoke levels are expected to be more noticeable than in previous days as the drying trend continues. Starting Monday, fire activity will increase with rising temperatures and lowering humidity, as seasonal warm and dry pattern returns to Western Colorado this week. Temperatures will stay in the low seventies with a mild 10 miles per hour wind.
Evacuations and closures: Fire restrictions and closures remain in place for lands within the Bureau of Land Management – Colorado River Valley Field Office areas, https://www.blm.gov/ucr-fire-restrictions. Restrictions and closures remain in the White River National Forest. See Critical and Fire Restriction Forest Alerts at https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/whiteriver/alerts/ .
The Colorado River, Sweetwater, and Red Dirt Creek roads have all been reopened, and the Garfield County and Eagle County Sheriff’s Offices have changed the evacuation status for Sweetwater Valley, Sheep Creek and Red Dirt Creek areas to pre-evacuation (READY) status: https://arcg.is/S0u4G and www.ecemergency.org.
A Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) is in place over the Derby Fire. All unauthorized aircraft (including drones) are prohibited from flying near the fire, as they can interfere with authorized air support operations. For more information, visit https://tfr.faa.gov.
Derby Fire information Phone: 970-355-3283 (8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.) Email:2025.Derby@firenet.gov
Actualización Diaria para el Incendio Derby – el 1 de septiembre de 2025
Equipo 3 del Manejo de Incidentes Complejos del Ãrea de las Montañas RocosasÂ
Comandantes del Incidente: Casey Cheesbrough, Jay Miller, Ben Sanders Información del incendio: 970-355-3283
Un campamento secundario se encuentra cerca de West Fork Red Dirt Creek, al este del borde del incendio, lo que permite a los equipos de bomberos “hotshot†(bomberos forestales altamente capacitados y especializados) reducir el tiempo de viaje hasta donde construyen una lÃnea directa en el borde del incendio. Los bomberos trabajan hacia el sur para reunirse con los equipos que trabajan desde Poison Creek en la esquina sureste. Esta tarea podrÃa tardar varios dÃas.
Se espera que los niveles de humo sean más visibles que en dÃas anteriores a medida que continúa la tendencia a la sequÃa. A partir del lunes, la actividad de los incendios aumentará con el aumento de las temperaturas y la disminución de la humedad, ya que el patrón estacional cálido y seco regresa al oeste de Colorado esta semana. Las temperaturas se mantendrán alrededor de los 70°F con vientos suaves de 10mph.
Evacuaciones y cierres: Las restricciones y cierres por incendios se permanecen vigentes en los terrenos bajo la administración de la Oficina de Administración de Tierras del Valle del RÃo Colorado: https://www.blm.gov/ucr-fire-restrictions. Las restricciones y cierres por incendios se permanecen vigentes en Bosque Nacional White River. Consulte las alertas forestales crÃticas y de restricciones por incendios en https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/whiteriver/alerts/.
Ops Update Monday morning, Sept. 1, 2025, Ryan Sharpe, Operations Sections Chief, discusses firefighting tactics on the #DerbyFire.
Firefighters are performing multiple operations today. A spike camp located near West Fork Red Dirt Creek has been set up east of the fire edge allowing hotshots to reduce travel time to where they are working direct on the fire perimeter. A group of hotshots will also return by helicopter to the Hack Lake area to continue their work on the western perimeter. Firefighters continue backhauling excess structure protection equipment from areas where it is no longer needed.