A wildfire burning on Colorado’s Western Slope consumed hundreds of acres on Tuesday and destroyed two buildings, including a home, according to firefighting officials.
crews near Rifle at about 3:20 p.m. Tuesday, . Mandatory evacuations were ordered for residents living on Gage Road and in the Grass Mesa Area, according to the agency.
That address is roughly 4 miles south of the Rifle Garfield County Airport, which sits off of Interstate 70 about 25 miles west of Glenwood Springs.
Winds quickly pushed the wildfire across hundreds of acres to the east and southeast of 899 Gage Road, fire officials said. As of Wednesday morning, it had consumed an estimated 315 acres, .
Evacuation orders remained active Wednesday morning and were expected to remain in place throughout the day because of “extreme fire behavior conditions,” including afternoon winds that could further fuel the flames, fire officials said.
The wildfire destroyed one home and one outbuilding on Tuesday, according to Colorado River Fire Rescue. Fire crews stayed in the area overnight to “protect threatened structures and critical infrastructure,” but officials did not specify how many homes were threatened.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
“Current conditions are extremely dry, and any spark could start a fast-moving wildfire,” . “Residents and visitors are urged to exercise extreme caution in all outdoor activities and strictly comply with burn restrictions.”
An was issued Wednesday morning for parts of Colorado’s mountains and Western Slope because of wildfire smoke, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
The advisory included Delta, Dolores, Eagle, Garfield, Gunnison, Hinsdale, La Plata, Mesa, Mineral, Montezuma, Montrose, Ouray, Pitkin, Rio Blanco, Saguache, San Juan and San Miguel counties. It will remain active until 9 a.m. Thursday.
Residents should remain indoors if smoke becomes thick, state health officials stated in the alert. If visibility drops to 5 miles or less, the smoke has reached unhealthy levels.
“This is especially true for those with heart disease, respiratory illnesses, the very young, and older adults,” state health officials wrote in the advisory. “Consider limiting outdoor activity when moderate to heavy smoke is present.”
Most of the smoke triggering the advisory is coming from fires burning in Utah and Nevada, state health officials said.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
