One of the largest wildfires ever recorded in Colorado was expected to worsen early Sunday as gusty winds and low humidity fueled the flames and officials stood ready to order additional evacuations in Garfield and Rio Blanco counties.
The Lee Fire has exploded in size over the weekend and now blazes across 106,672 acres or 167 square miles, making it the sixth-largest wildfire in the state’s history. The fire, south of Meeker, continued to push south toward Garfield County.
Crews have reached 6% containment on the fire, according to Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 3.
No injuries or structure damage have been reported by fire officials or the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office.
Officials in Rio Blanco and Garfield counties have ordered mandatory evacuations.
Mandatory evacuations were active along the Colorado 13 corridor from the White River near Meeker to south of Piceance Creek Road in Garfield County, parts of Rio Blanco County east of Willow Creek and south of Piceance Creek, and gulches west of Colorado 13.
Current evacuation maps from sheriff’s officials are available online.
More than 1,000 people are working to respond to the fires Sunday, with the primary objective of keeping the fire west of Colorado 13 and north of County Road 5.
“Under current conditions, this will prove to be a challenge to the firefighters,” fire officials said.
How to prepare for a wildfire evacuation in Colorado
With winds coming from the north and northwest, the area around Rifle and Interstate 70 is expected to see smoke from the fire, which was caused by lightning.
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