The 3,000-acre Sunrise Mine wildfire near Paradox, first reported Friday night, has caused evacuations and road closures in the surrounding area.
The Montrose County Sheriff’s Posse evacuated the Buckeye Reservoir, Rock Creek and Sinbad Valley areas this afternoon , according to a Bureau of Land Management news release.
Buckey Road, R1 Road and U5 Road were closed as well.
Officials said the evacuations are all in recreational rather than residential areas.
The fire is expected to grow today with high winds, hot temperatures and dry weather in the forecast, authorities say.
The wildfire was spotted at about 5 p.m. Friday in the remote, rugged area about 100 miles southwest of Grand Junction.
The wildfire is near the Colorado and Utah border, said Steve Segin, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.
“That fire is going to grow significantly,” Segin said.
Ten firefighting crews from around the Montrose area are fightly the blaze, said Shannon Borders, incident spokeswoman.
Firefighters are focusing on protecting homes in the area, she said. No homes have been destroyed .
Incident commanders will decide what additional resources to bring in to fight the blaze.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Mike Davis, Montrose Interagency Fire Management Unit fire manager, said people should not enter the area north of Paradox and the Buckeye Reservoir.
Meantime, the thick smoke blanketing much of the Front Range was from an 85,000-acre wildfire in the Gila Wilderness, Segin said.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
