One of Colorado’s largest wildfires on record continued to grow on the Western Slope on Thursday, charring another 10,000 acres as it burned between Meeker and Rifle.
The lighting-sparked Lee fire has now burned 133,602 acres or more than 208 square miles in Rio Blanco County and is 10% contained, fire officials said Thursday.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis declared yet another wildfire-related disaster emergency for one of the newest fires this week, the Crosho fire, and authorized the state National Guard to help with the fire.
Routt County officials issued more mandatory evacuation orders Thursday night as the fire burned north, including Routt County roads 132 and 19.
The Crosho fire is burning on 1,700 acres in Rio Blanco and Routt counties after sparking on Monday about 8 miles west of Yampa and forcing mandatory evacuations as it burned east.
An emergency declaration frees up state resources to help respond to the fires, and Polis previously issued for the 75-acre Oak fire near Pagosa Springs, the now-contained Leroux fire near Hotchkiss, and the Elk and Lee fires near Meeker.
Five homes and 14 outbuildings have been destroyed by the Lee and Elk fires burning on either side of Meeker in Rio Blanco County, sheriff’s officials said. Another five outbuildings were destroyed by the Oak fire.
Mandatory evacutions remain in place for parts of Rio Blanco and Garfield counties because of the Lee fire, and the town of Rico is under pre-evacuation orders because of the Stoner Mesa fire burning in Dolores County.
Jump to: Lee and Elk fires | Oak fire | Stoner Mesa fire | Crosho fire | Statewide impacts
Lee and Elk fires near Meeker
Colorado’s fifth-largest wildfire on record, the , burned across an additional 10,000 acres overnight Wednesday and into Thursday, fire officials said.
The 133,602-acre wildfire was 10% contained on Thursday and continued to cause evacuation and pre-evacuation orders Rio Blanco and Garfield counties.
East of Meeker, the is burning on 14,518 acres and remains 83% contained, according to a from fire officials. The wildfire has not grown in several days.
The Lee fire has destroyed three homes and 12 outbuildings, while the Elk fire has destroyed two homes and two outbuildings, Rio Blanco County Sheriff Anthony Mazzola said.
What does it mean when a wildfire is “contained”? A look at how containment is determined.
Both widlfires were sparked by lightning on Aug. 2 and have challenged firefighters battling steep terrain, gusty winds, heat and extreme drought.
A red flag warning was set for noon to 10 p.m. Thursday for much of western Colorado, including Meeker, .
Gusty winds up to 25 mph, relative humidities as low as 9% and hot temperatures could fuel rapid fire growth, according to the warning.
"Any fire that develops will catch and spread quickly," weather service forecasters stated. "Outdoor burning is not recommended."
Ongoing evacuations include a stretch of Colorado 64 north of the fire, areas along Colorado 13 east of the fire from Colorado 64 to Monument Peak and multiple zones along the fire's southern edge.
Pre-evacuation orders are active for areas including near and along Big Beaver Creek, the Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway, Red Canyon, Jordan Gulch, Colorado 64, Harris Gulch, the Grand Hogback, Ward Gulch and East Middle Fork Parachute Creek.
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Oak fire, near Pagosa Springs
Evacuations lifted at noon Wednesday for the 75-acre Oak fire burning near Pagosa Springs, according to the .
The fire sparked Sunday afternoon and forced the evacuation of two subdivisions. It also put a large section of Pagosa Springs on pre-evacuation status, sheriff's officials said.
Residents will need to provide identification or proof of address at checkpoints to access areas that were under mandatory evacuation orders, sheriff's officials said.
The Oak fire was 78% contained as of Wednesday evening, .
The wildfire threatened more than 5,100 buildings and 2,000 homes, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Sheriff's officials said the wildfire damaged a small barn, one pump house, one pergola, one carport and a camper trailer, but no homes. The department has not updated the damage reported since Monday.
Stoner Mesa fire, near Dolores
A wildfire burning in a remote section of southwestern Colorado's San Juan National Forest has charred more than 7,300 acres, fire officials said Thursday.
The , which started last week about 20 miles northeast of Dolores, was last mapped at 7,390 acres with no containment, according to a from fire officials. It grew roughly 300 acres on Wednesday.
The south line of the fire was "very active" on Wednesday as firefighters worked to put in control lines and burn out available fuels to keep the fire from growing, operations section chief Matt Weakland said Thursday morning.
There's still a lot of work to do to mitigate spread along the southeast edge, and crews are working to bring in heavy equipment and logging equipment to build control lines.
"It's also a concerning area for us because there is a significant amount of dead trees that we refer to as snags that are falling on a regular basis and posing an imminent threat to firefighters," Weakland said.
The nearby town of Rico remains on pre-evacuation status, and parts of the to the public because of the fire.
Crosho fire near Yampa
A third wildfire burning in Rio Blanco County, northeast of the Elk and Lee fires, continued to burn on 1,700 acres of national forest and private land Thursday.
The Crosho fire sparked in the on Monday and had grown to roughly 1,700 acres by Wednesday, more than tripling in size since it was measured at 500 acres on Tuesday.
No damage to buildings has been reported and minimal fire growth was reported Thursday, but county officials ordered more mandatory evacuations Thursday night, including Routt County Roads 132 and 19.
The U.S. Forest Service closed parts of the national forest because of the wildfire, including Rio Blanco County Road 8 to the north, Forest Road 940.1A to the east, Mill Creek to the south and the forest boundary in Routt County to the west.
People living east of Crosho Lake to Routt County Road 17 remained under mandatory evacuation orders Thursday. The evacuation zones include Heart Mountain and stretches of County Road 13 and County Road 15.
Updated are available online.
The wildfire was discovered Monday at Crosho Lake, about 8 miles west of Yampa. The cause of the fire is unknown.
Statewide impacts
State health officials issued air quality health advisories for wildfire smoke in western Colorado on Thursday.
Moderate to heavy smoke has been observed in the advisory areas, which include Rio Blanco, Garfield, Routt, Jackson, Grand, Eagle, Dolores, Montezuma, La Plata, San Juan and Summit counties, according to the .
The smoke could shift north Thursday, impacting communities along and north of Interstate 70, according to the advisory.
If visibility drops to less than 5 miles, the smoke has reached unhealthy levels.
Residents should consider limiting their time outdoors, especially young children, older adults and those with heart disease or respiratory illnesses, state health officials said.
The current advisories were issued Thursday morning and will remain active through at least 9 a.m. Friday.
