Four major wildfires are burning across Colorado, fueled by dry vegetation, drought and wind. The fires are largely uncontained and have forced some evacuations. The wildfire smoke is blanketing much of the state, with the high country in particular expected to see poor air quality Monday.
The wildfires come as federal officials this month designated 100% of Colorado as abnormally dry or under drought conditions for the first time in eight years, part of a 20-year shift toward greater aridity in the state amid climate warming.
Click here to skip to a specific fire: Pine Gulch fire | Grizzly Creek fire | Cameron Peak fire | Williams Fork fire | unnamed fire near the Rifle Fish Hatchery
Pine Gulch fire
Updated as of 10:12 a.m.
The Pine Gulch fire grew to 85,407 acres, or 133 square miles, Monday morning and is poised to become the third-largest wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history.
The Pine Gulch fire is close to overtaking the High Park fire, which burned 87,284 acres in Larimer County in 2012, killed one person and destroyed hundreds of homes.
Monday is a “crucial day” for firefighters, according to the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team, because the fire has moved into drainages in several areas on the western part of the wildfire, where dry vegetation and wind create the potential for rapid spread and “significant fire behavior.” Firefighters will need to work quickly to control and suppress the blaze in those drainages.
“Today presents an opportunity to successfully influence the duration of the Pine Gulch fire,” fire officials said in a morning update.
The Pine Gulch fire is 7% contained. It was started by lightning on July 31 and is burning about 18 miles north of Grand Junction in Garfield and Mesa counties. More than 800 people are working to stop the fire’s spread.
The blaze is burning in dry vegetation in remote, rough terrain, and authorities said the dry fuels combined with drought conditions have created “extreme fire behavior with high resistance to control.”
Grizzly Creek fire
Updated as of 10:15 a.m.
The Grizzly Creek fire topped an estimated 25,000 acres, or about 40 square miles, Monday and was 0% contained.
Better weather conditions on Sunday allowed firefighters to directly engage the fire, with air support as well as direct and indirect fire lines. Firefighters worked to successfully protect structures in Bair Ranch and No Name.
Monday brings the potential for dry thunderstorms, as well as hot and dry conditions. Firefighters will continue to protect structures in Bair Ranch and No Name, and will also protect High Aspen, Spring Valley and areas to the south as needed, authorities said.
Crews on the east side of the fire are working to complete an indirect fire line from Interstate 70 to Coffee Pot Road.
I-70 remains closed in both directions between Gypsum and Glenwood Springs, with no estimated time for reopening. The fire started Aug. 10 and is burning in Glenwood Canyon. About 647 people are fighting the blaze.
Cameron Peak fire
Updated as of 9:45 a.m.
The Cameron Peak fire hit 13,305 acres Monday morning, or about 20.8 square miles, after advancing on all fronts throughout the day Sunday.
The blaze started Thursday and is 0% contained. It’s burning in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests near Cameron Pass and Chambers Lake, moving through heavy timber and rugged terrain.
Crews on Sunday completed controlled burns to the east of Long Draw Road and on Monday will carry out additional burns on the north side of Colorado 14 in order to “keep pace with a finger of fire pushing to the southwest,” if weather allows, according to an update from the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team.
Colorado 14 remains closed from Rustic to Gould, and the Poudre Canyon is seeing heavy traffic as fire crews access the area. About 298 people are working the fire.
On Monday, fire crews will also work to remove fuels along roads west of Crystal Lakes and Red Feather Lakes.
“The distance of these preparations from the existing fire front allows times for crew to complete preparation activities before the fire reaches the area,” the update read. “Once complete, these preparations will allow for burnout operations to the west before the fire advances toward those communities.”
Firefighters are not working directly on the fire’s front because it is too dangerous, authorities said during a Sunday evening briefing. No structures have been damaged in the blaze.
Williams Fork fire
Updated as of 10:49 a.m.
The Williams Fork fire grew to 6,345 acres Sunday, or about 9.9 square miles, with lighter winds and lower temperatures helping to slow the fire’s spread.
The blaze, which started Friday and is 0% contained, is burning about 7 miles southwest of Fraser in a remote area that experienced “intensive beetle kill” in the early 2000s, authorities said. The dead vegetation combined with dry conditions and winds has fueled the fire.
On Sunday, the fire moved east toward Lake Evelyn in the Byers Creek Wilderness. Firefighters focused on protecting infrastructure and hope to keep the fire east of County Road 30, south of Keyser Creek Road, north of Darling Creek and west of County Road 50.
On Monday, the Grand County Sheriff’s Office plans to launch an online interactive evacuation map so residents can check their pre-set evacuation sites if evacuations are ordered in the future. None have been ordered so far for the Fraser Valley.
The fire was caused by human activity, said Schelly Olson, Grand County public information officer. She said fire managers ruled out lightning as a cause, which means the blaze must have been sparked by humans.
Investigators haven’t yet figured out who started the fire or how, she said.
Fire near Rifle Fish Hatchery
Updated as of 9:15 a.m.
A 3-acre fire near the Rifle Fish Hatchery that started and forced evacuations Sunday night was fully contained and under control by early Monday morning.
Evacuations were lifted and County Road 325 was reopened by about 7 a.m., Garfield County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Walk Stowe said. Firefighters monitored overnight hotspots, he said.
“They were able to get on top of it,” he said. “They had a lot of equipment up here last night, a dozen or so engines, and they got it contained.”
Wildfire map
Click markers for details, use buttons to change what wildfires are shown. Map data is automatically updated by government agencies and could lag real-time events. Incident types are numbered 1-5 — a type 1 incident is a large, complex wildfire affecting people and critical infrastructure, a type 5 incident is a small wildfire with few personnel involved. Find more information about incident types at the bottom of this page.
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Colorado wildfire update: Latest on the Pine Gulch, Grizzly Creek, Cameron Peak and Williams Fork fires - The Denver Post
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