At least four uncontained wildfires burning across Colorado’s western slope on Sunday, which together have destroyed thousands of acres amid hot, dry weather, prompted Gov. Jared Polis to issue a disaster declaration.
Four active fires were sparked by the same Thursday afternoon lightning storm, and a fifth was on the verge of crossing into Colorado from Utah on Sunday, according to fire agencies.
As those fires continued to burn for the fourth day, another group sparked in Douglas County near Chatfield State Park, according to South Metro Fire Rescue.
The size and cause of the metro-area fires remain unknown, but Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Kara Van Hoose said one burned at least 20 acres inside the state park.
That small section of fire was extinguished Sunday afternoon, but videos posted on social media by South Metro Fire Rescue showed the flames continue to spread across the grassy open space, sending up a wall of smoke.
It’s difficult for crews to get a size estimate because multiple spot fires are burning in the area, South Metro Fire Rescue spokesperson Brian Willie said.
The group of fires is in an area that stretches about 3 miles alongside U.S. 85 from Titan Road to Kelly Court, Willie said. It’s also about as wide as the gap from U.S. 85 to Waterton Road, but not all of the area is burning.
Willie said the cause of the fires remains under investigation.
The first flames were reported just after 2 p.m. Sunday near the train tracks, and a train was confirmed in the area, but it’s unknown if that’s what sparked the fires, he said.
As of 6 p.m. Sunday, the four lightning-sparked fires on the western slope had charred nearly 7,000 acres, according to acreages reported by various agencies battling the fires across three counties.
The South Rim fire at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Montrose County had grown to roughly 3,556 acres with no containment when it was mapped Saturday night, according to the National Park Service. Updated numbers were not available Sunday evening.
Dry weather, high temperatures and strong winds spurred the fire’s rapid growth on Saturday, fire officials said.
The mandatory evacuation zone is bordered to the west by Lateral Ditch Road, the north by Black Canyon, the south by U.S. 50 and the east by East Portal, according to the National Park Service. It’s unclear how many people have evacuated.
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park remained closed to the public on Sunday, with no timeline to reopen.
To the west, the Sowbelly fire burning in the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Area grew to 2,251 acres across Montrose, Delta and Mesa counties, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
Two more fires in mountainous terrain near Gateway in Mesa County are proving difficult and dangerous for firefighters to tackle, Operations Section Chief Tim Lavin said in a Sunday morning briefing.
The Turner Gulch fire spread to roughly 940 acres of Bureau of Land Management property, Lavin said. That’s nearly double the 512 acres it was burning on Saturday evening.
Hotshot crews are working on containment lines around the fire, but the mountainous area makes it dangerous for crews to work, he said.
Nearby, the Wright Draw fire had destroyed at least 160 acres. That estimate is from Saturday night, but no size update was available Sunday.
“The Wright Draw fire is sitting up on a very high, very steep terrain ledge,” Lavin said. “That fire today has … crept down, and if it gets into this North Fork West Creek, it will make a significant run. So we’re trying to prepare for that.”
As of Sunday evening, Utah’s Deer Creek fire had not yet been confirmed to cross the Colorado border, according to emergency officials.
The Deer Creek fire was quickly approaching the Utah-Colorado border on Sunday, after already destroying more than 8,900 acres in eastern Utah, largely on U.S. Forest Service land, according to fire officials.
It’s still part of Gov. Polis’ disaster declaration and plan to allocate state resources, but officials won’t know if it’s crossed the border until planes can run an infrared scan and generate a new fire map Sunday evening, Utah officials said.
Polis activated Colorado’s State Emergency Operations and Resource Mobilization plans in response to the fires, according to a news release from his office.
Those plans coordinate staff and resources through the State Emergency Operations Center and the Division of Fire Prevention and Control.
State resources will join hundreds of firefighters already on the ground across the state to fight the wildfires.
Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter.