New mandatory evacuations were ordered in the Lee fire late Friday night and early Saturday morning as flames raced south toward Garfield County, growing by nearly 30,000 acres on Colorado’s Western Slope near Meeker.
High winds, dry conditions and hot weather all aligned to create “extreme fire behavior,” operations planning chief Tyler Nathe said in an 11:30 p.m. update on Friday. The fire has charred 88,755 acres or 139 square miles as of Saturday morning, up from 61,425 acres or 96 square miles on Friday, fire officials said in an email. It is now the sixth largest wildfire ever recorded in Colorado and is burning with no containment.
The Lee fire began creating its own weather Friday afternoon as flames roared south into drainages filled with dry fuels, and the wildfire sent a pyrocumulus cloud 30,000 feet into the air that stirred up even more wind and made fire behavior worse, Nathe said.
Rio Blanco County sheriff’s officials ordered new mandatory evacuations at 10:30 p.m. Friday and 6:45 a.m. Saturday, including the Colorado 13 corridor to the Garfield County border, and along Piceance Creek, Willow Creek and gulches west of the highway.
Garfield County sheriff’s officials issued pre-evacuation warnings for people living south of the Rio Blanco County border, including most areas west of Colorado 13 just shy of West Fork Parachute Creek. Current evacuation maps from both sheriff’s offices are available online.
Federal fire maps show the Lee fire’s footprint extended south, crossing Fourteen Creek Road and reaching Rio Blanco County Road 5.
No injuries have been reported in the fire and crews focused on protecting structures overnight, fire officials said. Information on damage to homes or buildings was not immediately available.
Smoke from the Lee fire created enough shade over the nearby Elk fire, 11 miles to the east, that firefighters could reinforce fire lines and gain 8% containment. Fire crews held the smaller wildfire to 14,502 acres overnight.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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