Colorado Halligan Fire northwest of Fort Collins is fully contained

UPDATE, 1:11 p.m. Thursday: The Halligan Fire is fully contained, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office says it will remain on scene while others demobilize.

ORIGINAL STORY: There was no growth Tuesday night to the Halligan Fire burning northwest of Fort Collins, according to the Larimer County Sheriff's Office.

The fire is at 150 acres with 75% containment, the sheriff's office said around 4:15 p.m. Wednesday. Due to improving conditions, the Type 1 helicopter has been released but ground crews will continue to work the fire.

The fire is located about 2 miles north and west of Halligan Reservoir near where Dale Creek flows into the North Fork of the Poudre River, according to the sheriff's office.

One hundred personnel are working the lightning-caused fire that started late Monday evening in a remote and rugged area near Halligan Reservoir, about 30 miles from Fort Collins.

A Type 1 helicopter is being deployed, according to a tweet from the sheriff's office.

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The National Weather Service in Boulder has issued a red flag warning from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday for the northeast corner of the state. The area is at increased fire risk due to high temperatures, low relative humidity, and wind direction and speed.

The warning extends to just east of Fort Collins and does not include the Halligan Fire area. Still, many of the same conditions that prompted the warning will exist at the fire Wednesday.

The weather service forecast for Fort Collins on Wednesday is a high of 95 with a northwest wind 7 mph to 12 mph in the morning becoming west-northwest 13 mph to 18 mph in the afternoon and gusts as high as 30 mph, which will hamper firefighting.

There is a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon.

The sheriff's office said there were five lightning strikes in the area where the fire started Monday.

The city of Fort Collins owns the Halligan Reservoir dam and the land immediately surrounding and underneath the reservoir. The water in the reservoir is owned and managed by North Poudre Irrigation Company and primarily used for irrigation.

The city is monitoring the fire's movements for potential impacts to city-owned infrastructure.

Larimer County issued fire restrictions effective noon Wednesday for unincorporated areas of the county. The restrictions were prompted by the weather forecast of hot and dry weather with low humidity leading up to the Fourth of July.

Here is a look at the restrictions:

Not allowed

• Use of fireworks and public fireworks displays

• Open fires, including camping and cooking fires

• Smoking out in the open, including on trails, at parks or in open spaces

• Use of combustible devices, which includes sky lanterns, exploding ammunition, exploding targets or tracer ammunition

• Welding outdoors, depending on the conditions

Allowed

• Public fireworks displays approved by the appropriate fire department or district

• Contained open fires in permanently constructed masonry or metal fireplaces specifically designed for fires

• Gas- or liquid-fueled fires, including portable heaters, grills and camping stoves

• Charcoal grills used at a private residence and operated on a noncombustible surface of at least 10 feet in diameter

• Fireplaces or wood stoves inside permanent structures

• Fires in commercially operated wood or charcoal grills designed for cooking

• Fires in air curtain burners

• The use of an internal or external combustion engine with a spark arresting device properly installed, maintained and in effective working order, meeting published standards

• Welding in an enclosed building

• Outdoor welding, as long as: there is no vegetation within 30 feet, wind speed is less than 10 mph and fire suppressant is immediately available

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Coloradoan reporter Sady Swanson contributed to this report.

Reporter Miles Blumhardt looks for stories that impact your life. Be it news, outdoors, sports — you name it, he wants to report it. Have a story idea? Contact him at milesblumhardt@coloradoan.com or on Twitter @MilesBlumhardt. Support his work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Halligan Fire in Colorado is fully contained.