Colorado wildfires: Evacuations lifted for Green Ridge fire near Steamboat

DENVER — Mandatory evacuations were lifted Tuesday as crews gained containment on the Green Ridge fire burning near Steamboat Springs, according to Routt County officials.

The nearby Fishhook fire continued to burn on more than 200 acres with no containment, joining four other wildfires active across Colorado. Together, the Fishhook, Green Ridge, Aspen Acres, Gold Mountain, Ferris and Willow fires have consumed nearly 208,000 acres, or 325 square miles.

Aspen Acres fire in Custer and Pueblo counties

As of Tuesday morning, the Aspen Acres fire burning in southern Colorado had consumed 99,077 acres, or 155 square miles, and was 36% contained, fire officials said.

The wildfire is Colorado’s largest active wildfire and the seventh-largest in the state’s recorded history, behind the 2018 Spring Creek fire that consumed 108,045 acres.

The Aspen Acres fire has destroyed at least 851 structures. It’s unclear how many of those are homes, but law enforcement in Pueblo and Custer counties previously announced that at least 337 homes and four businesses had been destroyed.

While large sections of the evacuation orders had been lifted in Pueblo County on Tuesday, Huerfano County officials ordered new mandatory evacuations on private and U.S. Forest Service land as fire activity picked up along the western edge of the nearly 100,000-acre wildfire.

Sheriff’s officials issued mandatory evacuations for Forest Service land east of where Williams Creek crosses into the national forest, along the creek to the intersection of Huerfano County Road 630, north to County Road 636, and west to County Road 634/Gardner Road.

The Bartlett Trail subdivision and the surrounding area are also under evacuation, county officials said.

Updated evacuation maps for Pueblo and Custer counties.

The following roads remained closed for the fire as of Wednesday morning, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation:

•Colorado 165 in both directions between McKenzie Junction and Interstate 25

•Colorado 78 in both directions between Colorado 165 and Rock Creek Road west of Pueblo

The exact origin of the fire remains under investigation, but officials believe it was human-caused.

Green Ridge and Fishhook fires

Two wildfires sparked south of Steamboat Springs in northern Colorado on Sunday, according to Routt County officials.

As of Tuesday evening, the Fishhook fire had scorched an estimated 229 acres with no containment in Routt National Forest, near Rabbit Ears Pass, according to the U.S. Forest Service. U.S. 40 remained open as of Wednesday morning.

The fire is roughly three miles from the Steamboat Ski Resort.

Mandatory evacuations were lifted Tuesday for the Green Ridge fire burning near the Stagecoach Reservoir, which was last estimated at 44 acres with 27% containment, according to Routt County officials. The fire had threatened 480 structures when Gov. Jared Polis issued an emergency declaration on Sunday, but none have been damaged or destroyed.

Road closures remained in effect around the fire on Wednesday, including:

•Routt County Road 16 at 18A

•Routt County Road 212 just past Schussmark Trail

•Snowbird Trail

•Broken Talon Trail

•Broken Talon Way

•Lynx Basin Way

•Lynx Basin Lane

•King Fisher Lane

•Green Ridge Drive

•Mountain Meadows Drive

•Ute Trail

•Cheyenne Trail

•Los Ranchos Road

•Commanche Road

The cause of the fires remains under investigation.

Gold Mountain fire near Ouray

The Gold Mountain fire has consumed 36,965 acres with 12% containment, fire officials said Tuesday. That’s roughly 58 square miles.

A size update was not yet available on Wednesday, but “with another night of improved humidity recovery, firefighters continued making steady progress,” fire officials said in a morning update.

More than 880 personnel remained on scene to fight the wildfire, according to Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team 2, which took control of the fire response on Tuesday.

Mandatory evacuations remained in place on Tuesday for residents of Ouray and Gunnison counties north of the fire, according to the evacuation map.

The Ouray County evacuation zone was bordered to the west by County Road 8 and County Road 10, to the south by Baldy Peak, to the east by Green Mountain and the Cimarron Ridge and to the north by Tommy Creek and Deer Creek.

Evacuations were also in effect northeast of the Cimarron Ridge, along the border of Gunnison and Montrose counties, according to the map. That area is bordered to the north by Washboard Rock, to the east by Gunnison County Road 864A, to the south by Hampden Lake and to the west by Cimarron Ridge.

Montrose County residents north of the mandatory evacuation zone and Gunnison County residents to the east of the zone were on pre-evacuation status at that time.

Evacuated residents can seek shelter at the Ridgway Secondary School, 1200 Green St., according to county officials.

The cause of the Gold Mountain fire, which sparked shortly after 5:30 p.m. on June 27, remains under investigation

Ferris fire in San Juan National Forest, near Dolores

As of Tuesday evening, the Ferris fire had consumed an estimated 64,869 acres, or 101 square miles, in and near the San Juan National Forest north of Dolores. At that time, the flames were 43% contained, fire officials said.

Lightning sparked three fires in the San Juan National Forest on June 27. Those fires then grew and merged into the Ferris fire.

As of Wednesday morning, most of the evacuations had been lifted around the wildfire. Small pockets of mandatory evacuations remained in effect near Ryman Creek and Little Pony Reservoir, but the majority had been downgraded to pre-evacuation status.

Willow fire near Leadville

Containment shrunk slightly on a wildfire burning near Leadville in Lake County, dropping to 28% on Tuesday from 33% on Monday, according to fire officials.

As of Tuesday evening, the Willow fire had consumed roughly 6,539 acres, according to Southwest Area Incident Management Team 4, which is leading the fire response. The burn area covers roughly 10 square miles.

Mandatory evacuations remained in place Tuesday for an area bordered to the north by Lonesome Lake and Isolation Lakes, to the west by Twining Peak, to the south by Echo Creek and to the east by East Tennessee Creek. Updated evacuation information can be found online.

The cause of the fire, which started on June 29, remains under investigation. As of Tuesday evening, 597 personnel were on scene to fight the wildfire.

Air quality alerts

The four large fires have led to consistently worsening air quality across the state, prompting state health officials to issue advisories. The warnings mostly cover central, west and southwest Colorado.

The newest alert from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will remain in effect until at least 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to the agency. That alert includes Delta, Montrose, Ouray and Pueblo counties.

If the smoke drops visibility to less than 5 miles in an area, it has reached unhealthy levels, state health officials said in the alert. Those with heart disease and respiratory illnesses, young children and older adults are more at risk.

An ozone action day alert was also issued for the Front Range and will be in effect until at least 4 p.m. Wednesday. That alert covers the urban corridor from Douglas County to Larimer and Weld counties, including the Denver and Boulder areas.

Sunny, hot and stagnant weather will allow ozone to reach the “unhealthy for sensitive groups” level on Wednesday, state health officials said in the alert.

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