Evacuations ordered for eastern Colorado grass fire as crews battle high wind

Lauren Penington, The Denver Post on Feb 25, 2026

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Residents in a small town on Colorado’s Eastern Plains were ordered to evacuate Wednesday afternoon after a grass fire sparked nearby, fueled by strong winds and dry vegetation, according to fire officials.

Evacuation orders were issued just before 2 p.m. Wednesday for the town of Padroni, home to roughly two dozen people in northeast Colorado, according to the Sterling Fire Department. The town is about 11 miles north of Sterling.

“If you are in this area, please leave immediately,” fire officials said. “You are in the path of the fire.”

By 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, the evacuation zone had expanded to include parts of Peetz and Iliff, according to the Logan Office of Emergency Management. The zone includes residents along Colorado 113 between County Road 62 and County Road 67.5, and in the area south to U.S. 138, according to the office.

Multiple fire departments were fighting the flames, which sparked in a grassy area on Colorado 113 near milemarker 12, according to the Sterling Fire Department.

Fire crews were making progress along several of the fire’s flanks, but continued to fight the wind, according to the department.

As of 3:30 p.m., Colorado 113 in Logan County was closed in both directions between County Road 56 north of Padroni and County Road 74 in Peetz for “fire activity,” according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. The closure extended from milemarker 9 to 16, according to the agency.

Information on the size and cause of the fire was not immediately available Wednesday.

A red flag warning was in effect for most of the Front Range and Eastern Plains on Wednesday, including Logan County, according to the National Weather Service.

Wind gusts up to 55 mph and humidity values as low as 15% were expected across the area through 6 p.m. Wednesday, the warning stated.

“Conditions will be favorable for rapid fire spread,” forecasters said.

Roughly 130 miles away, in Thornton, another grass fire forced afternoon evacuations, sending smoke across the metro area north of Denver and temporarily shutting down Interstate 25.

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