A wind-driven blaze in Moffat County tripled in size to more than 3,000 acres today while officials described fire conditions throughout the state as among the most dangerous in the nation.
With flames towering 100 feet, the Thomas Fire splashed across a sparsely populated, mountainous region dotted with pinion and juniper trees north of the Dinosaur National Monument. Wind gusts up to 50 mph lent momentum to the blaze and grounded firefighting aircraft.
The community of Greystone is under a voluntary evacuation order. An abandoned cabin was burned in the fire.
“We’re ready for fires,” said Larry Helmerick, a fire information officer for the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center. “The grasses and the fuels are pretty dry right now” and almost anywhere below 9,000 feet faces fire danger.
All of Colorado is under a red flag warning from the National Weather Service. Conditions are prime for blazes throughout the state, with high winds and temperatures, the threat of dry thunderstorms and vast expanses of arid fuel.
