The new number comes from an adjustment made by the National Parks Service. The new number increases the acreage by 700 over Saturday morning. The NPS says the new estimate is because poor visibility over the past few days made mapping the area burning difficult. They used infrared on Saturday to get a better idea of how much has burned.

Officials say erratic winds are continuing to push the blaze to the north, west and northeast.

The National Park Service says the fire is burning one mile south of Mount Dickinson, which is about six miles west of Glen Haven in the West Creek, and seven miles from the nearest road. Smoke from the fire can be seen from Longmont to Fort Collins.

No evacuations have been ordered, but residents in the town of Glen Haven have been warned they could be ordered to do so. One person who lives there told 9NEWS fire crews are going door to door to warn residents.

Park Rangers hiked the North Fork Drainage in the park Friday night to tell the 24 registered back country campers in the area to hike out, they say. All 24 campers are reported to have hiked out of the area.

Officials say the fire was only three-to-five acres on Thursday and had only gotten up to 10 to 12 acres on Friday morning. By Friday evening, it was up to 200 acres. First reports on Saturday morning put the blaze at 800 acres.

McGraw Ranch Road is now closed to the public due to safety reasons, but residents along the road are not being asked to evacuate.

Several trails inside the park have also been closed as a precaution, including the Cow Creek Trailhead and the North Boundary Trail.

Ground crews had to disengage from active operations on Friday afternoon because of the fire's erratic behavior.


Round Mountain Fire

The Cow Creek Fire joins another in the area west of Loveland. The Round Mountain Fire has burned 150 acres between Loveland and Estes Park, south of Highway 34, in a heavily-timbered area that sits behind the Big Thompson Indian Village.

The U.S. Forest Service says they are not sure how the fire started, but it was 15 percent contained on as of Saturday afternoon. Authorities say there are between about 100 firefighters on the scene, and structures are being threatened.

As of Saturday afternoon, the area was receiving rain and seeing some lightning, authorities say. The heavy rain brought the temperature down in the area, helping the fire to burn slower in the damper weather.

Authorities have asked anyone driving along Highway 34 who wants to stop and take pictures to pull completely off the road before doing so.

Medano Fire

To the south, the fire in the Great Sand Dunes National Park and Preserve continues to burn, pushing smoke into the San Luis Valley Friday.

The National Park Service says the Medano Fire has burned 5,417 acres so far, and firefighters have prepared burn outs and fire lines that are helping to control the blaze.
Officials say smoke from the burn could be seen in parts of the San Luis Valley on Thursday, and they expect the area to see more smoke for the next few days.

Little to no rain fell on the fire Friday, officials say, but the chance of rain from Monday to Wednesday could help wet the ground.

The fire was started on June 6 by lightning in the Sangre de Cristos Mountains. Some trails and roads close to the fire still remain closed, the NPS says. Firefighters say they are continuing to create a fire line on the north and east sides of the fire.

(KUSA-TV © 2010 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)