The 416 fire north of Durango grew by 1,511 acres overnight Friday, totaling nearly 8,700 acres with 10 percent containment, officials said Saturday.
The fire that’s burning about 13 miles north of Durango started more than a week ago and has prompted evacuations from about 1,300 area homes. No homes have been lost, and no one has been injured in the wildfire that has consumed swaths of forest land.
A community meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Saturday at the La Plata County Fairgrounds, where attendees can learn more information about the situation, according to a news release from the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team.
Firefighters will continue to patrol along U.S. 550 to mop up hot spots and keep the flames west of the highway and away from structures. A flank of fire crews is dedicated to protecting the homes and infrastructure in nearby Hermosa as the blaze has entered Hermosa Creek.
Firefighters are trying to prevent the flames from impacting Purgatory Resort and to keep the fire south of the Castle Rock drainage.
“Structure protection is in place for the entire fire area,” read a news release from the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team. “The structure group will continue assessing and preparing structures in the unlikely event of direct impingement from the fire.”
On Friday morning, 304 residences were notified about evacuations. Law enforcement officers began knocking on the doors of homes at 10 a.m. Friday on the east and west sides of U.S. 550 from Electra Lake Drive north to Hermosa Cliffs Road and to the north end of Two Dogs Trail. Residents had until 4 p.m. Friday to evacuate.
U.S. 550 is closed from mile marker 32 to 47. Pilot cars are escorting commuters through the closure from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
Critical weather conditions are expected during the weekend. Southwest to west winds are gaining strength across southwest Colorado. Humidity will be low, and winds could gust up to 25 miles per hour. The Haines Index, measuring the stability and dryness of air over a fire, is at 6 — the highest, most extreme value in the index, officials warned.
“This indicates that there is a high potential for extreme fire behavior, intensity and growth,” the new release read.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said Saturday that smoke has reached unhealthy levels in La Plata County as far south as the Colorado-New Mexico state line. The area includes the communities of Durango and Hermosa and the Southern Ute Reservation.
Fire danger is high across Colorado. A wildfire, named the Natty fire by officials, is burning through rugged and steep terrain in Fremont County nine miles north of Cañon City. On Friday night, Fremont County Sheriff’s Office said the fire had grown to more than 30 acres and was headed northeast.
As of Saturday morning, the Bureau of Land Management said the Natty Fire was 30 percent contained. Firefighters on the ground and in the air were still battling the blaze.
Another wildfire, the Burro fire, was burning about 13 miles west of the 416 fire through the San Juan National Forest in Montezuma County, causing campers in the area to be evacuated. The Burro fire was estimated to be at about 100 acres as of Saturday morning. No structures were threatened, according to officials.
Meteorologists, fire crews and local first responders all warned Coloradans about the extreme fire conditions across the state this weekend.
