Six large wildfires burning across Colorado have scorched nearly 127,000 acres — nearly 200 square miles — as hundreds of firefighters battle the flames with little relief in sight ahead of another stretch of hot, dry and windy weather.
The largest wildfire currently burning in the state, the Aspen Acres fire in Pueblo and Custer counties, is roughly 47,953 acres, or about 75 square miles.
Here’s the latest on the largest wildfires burning in Colorado:
Aspen Acres fire
More than 300 firefighters are currently fighting the Aspen Acres fire with several hundreds more on their way as the fire remains at 0% containment, amid stark warnings that further growth is inevitable.
A complex incident management team from Alaska received its briefing on the fire Wednesday evening and will assume command of the fire, bringing additional personnel and wildfire expertise to support firefighting efforts, Pueblo County Sheriff Dave Lucero said.
The team is one of several that are trained to manage large-scale emergencies across the country and is made up of local, state and federal ranking personnel that handle suppression operations, as well as finance, logistics, safety and public information, according to the U.S. Wildland Fire Service in Alaska.
“The team is no stranger to challenging wildfire conditions and has a strong history of helping communities navigate dangerous and rapidly changing situations,” USWFS-Alaska said in a statement.
The Aspen Acres fire has burned at least 180 structures in Pueblo and Custer counties and officials believe that number will rise as the fire grows and teams can safely enter neighborhoods to conduct assessments.
Fire officials say the fire, which started June 29, was human-caused but have not released more details on their investigation. The fire showed explosive growth because of record-low fuel moisture levels and persistent red flag conditions the week before it ignited and the days after, officials said.
In southern Colorado, National Weather Service forecasters have issued a red flag warning for Thursday and Friday, ahead of conditions that will make it very easy for any spark of fire to spread rapidly. Humidity levels are expected to drop below 5% both days, making fuels critically dry and winds up to 45 mph are expected.
Winds will likely weaken and moisture will likely return by the weekend, forecasters said.
On Wednesday, all mandatory evacuations, including Beulah, Colorado City and Wetmore, remained in place. To receive information about evacuation orders in the area from the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office, residents can sign up for alerts here.
Several road closures were also in place including:
- Colorado 96 from Butler Street in Silver Cliff to Siloam Road
- Colorado 67 from Wetmore to milepoint 3
- Colorado 165 from McKenzie Junction to Interstate 25
- Colorado 78 from Colorado 165 to Rock Creek Road
Snyder fire
Firefighters reached 49% containment on the Snyder fire that is burning along the Colorado-Utah border, officials said Thursday morning.
The fire, which killed three firefighters during the initial attack, is now estimated at 30,193 acres, according to the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1.
The fire’s growth has been minimal despite critical fire conditions over the past few days, officials said. Crews are continuing to secure the fire line, including along the valley’s floors below the mesa to cut off the fire’s progression south. They are also looking for ways to stop the fire from advancing west toward the Colorado River because much of the unburned portion in Jones Canyon is unassessible by foot.
All pre-evacuation orders issued for the fire near Glade Park have been lifted.
Gold Mountain fire
Those living and working in parts of Montrose County were told to be ready to leave Thursday morning in case the 18,005-acre Gold Mountain fire, burning near Ouray, continues to push in their direction.
The fire was 0% contained as of Thursday.
Fire behavior is expected to be “moderate to very high” by noon and could increase to extreme later in the afternoon, the Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team 3 said.
The Montrose County Sheriff’s Office issued a pre-evacuation notice for properties south of the P77 Road/Cimarron Road intersection and properties on P77 Road one mile north of the intersection.
Cimarron State Wildlife Area will be closed to public access until the pre-evacuation status is lifted, the sheriff’s office said.
On Thursday, 377 firefighters were working to reinforce the firelines on the southwestern perimeter of the fire to prevent the fire from moving into Ouray. On the western side, aerial crews are helping across rugged terrain to connect the fireline from Cutler Creek to areas with sparser fuels on Baldy Peak, fire officials said.
“This country is very rugged and we want our folks to be safe, we want the public to be safe,” Jeramy Dietz, operation section chief for the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 3 said in a video briefing. “So we’re spending our time to try to figure out where we can get a good spot for our folks to be safe while firefighting this stuff.”
Ferris fire
The Ferris fire, burning 27,382 acres in the San Juan National Forest, continued moving down Doe Canyon toward the Dolores River Canyon overnight, fire officials said Thursday morning.
The fire hasn’t reached the Dolores River yet, but is expected to today.
Crews on Thursday will be moving to the west side of Dolores Canyon to be prepared to protect structures, if needed.
The lightning-caused fire has not reached private lands but is impacting cattle whose owners have permits allowing them to graze on the national forest land.
“The Glade area hosts some of the best managed range on the Forest and we are working hard to both contain the fire and to support permittees and their animals,” officials with the San Juan National Forest said on Facebook.
Willow fire
The Willow fire burning 6 miles west of Leadville was roughly 2,207 acres as of Thursday morning and 0% contained.
Crews are working Thursday to strengthen structure protection around Turquoise Lake and further assess values as risk. Firefighters will also scope areas to slow the fire’s spread to the north and scout future containment options in the Halfmoon Creek area to the southeast.
As conditions allow, aerial crews will drop water near critical infrastructure to reduce the fire’s intensity.
Fire activity was high Tuesday as high temperatures and dry conditions challenged firefighters’ efforts to suppress the flames, fire officials said Thursday morning.
Several spot fires near the Twin Peaks merged in the afternoon, prompting helicopters to drop water in the area and along the powerline corridor. No damage to the transmission infrastructure was reported, officials said.
The cause of the fire is undetermined.
Big Sheep fire
Firefighters reached 50% containment of the Big Sheep fire, which has burned 1,153 acres, officials in Huerfano County said Wednesday evening.
Pre-evacuation orders are still in effect, but will be re-evaluated by the end of the day Thursday.
The fire was first reported Monday afternoon near Moonshine Ranch, which is west of Walsenburg.