30,000 Acres and Counting: Western Colorado Faces Worst Fire Season Yet

Grace Brajkovich | The Denver Gazette

Several wildfires continue to eat their way through western Colorado’s mountainous terrain, with one growing more than 6,000 acres overnight and another crossing over from Utah, according to emergency officials.

The four major wildfires on the western half of the state, including the one coming from Utah, have burned over 35,000 acres of land, according to Inciweb, a government wildfire tracker. 

The scorching weather and “extreme” drought conditions still fan the blazes’ flames as firefighters try to navigate steep, jagged terrain and fight back the four wildfires that prompted Gov. Jared Polis to issue a disaster declaration Sunday. 

Here’s a roundup from fire officials Wednesday.

Turner Gulch and Wright Draw fires
More than 50 miles southwest of Grand Junction at Unaweep Canyon, the Turner Gulch fire in Mesa County has grown to 13,984 acres with zero percent containment as of Wednesday evening, according to InciWeb. Since Tuesday night, the fire has grown more than 6,000 acres.

“We expect this wildfire to be on the landscape for the foreseeable future,” said Jesse McCarty, a spokesperson for Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 1, which is leading the operation for the wildfire.

Expected storms on Thursday and Friday could produce winds up to 30-40 mph, which McCarty said will make the fire grow more than they’d like. Smoke will be on the landscape for a while, and the winds will likely push the smoke farther east.

McCarty said the dry climate has made vegetation in the area “ripe for ignition,” a component fire officials said has fed the other three wildfires.

On Monday, firefighters made progress in securing a portion of a fire line on the Turner Gulch fire’s west side. McCarty said that side is along Colorado 141 and has homes, powerlines and other infrastructure that firefighters are working to protect.

Four firefighters from the Colorado Springs Fire Department were deployed to assist in managing the blaze, which was sparked by a lightning strike Thursday. No structures have been lost at this time, McCarty said.

On the other side of the canyon, the complex incident management team is assessing the Wright Draw fire, which has grown to 448 acres. Crews are working to keep it on the mesa and to protect “values at risk,” which McCarty said are any assets, resources or areas that are in a fire’s path.

Evacuations for private properties along mile markers 120 and 131 along Colorado 141 are still in place. Evacuees can go to Clifton Community Center.

“Please make space for firefighters to do their jobs by not going down Highway 141 if you aren’t a nearby resident,” McCarty said.

South Rim fire
Farther east, the South Rim fire in Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park raged on, growing to 4,160 with zero percent containment since Monday, according to a news release from emergency officials.

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