New evacuations ordered as Lee fire explodes

A wildfire burning south of Meeker on Colorado’s Western Slope exploded in size Friday and Saturday, racing across 40 square miles and forcing mandatory evacuations as fire crews worked to contain it.

The Lee fire is burning along the southeastern edge as red flag conditions — high wind, low humidity, hot weather — continued Saturday, fire officials said.

Fire activity on Saturday afternoon was not as intense as Friday’s, but the situation is evolving, fire spokesperson Bethany Urban said. No injuries or structure damage have been reported by fire officials or the Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office.

Rio Blanco and Garfield county officials issued new mandatory evacuation orders as flames raced south toward Garfield County and the fire grew by nearly 30,000 acres.

Colorado Department of Corrections officials on Saturday also started evacuating the Rifle Correctional Center because of the fire. The prison houses 192 inmates about 10 miles north of Rifle in Garfield County.

Mandatory evacuations were active along the Colorado 13 corridor from the White River near Meeker to south of Piceance Creek Road in Garfield County, Rio Blanco County Road 5 to County Road 3, Willow Creek, and gulches west of Colorado 13.

Current evacuation maps from sheriff’s officials are available online.

Critical weather conditions aligned to create “extreme fire behavior,” operations planning chief Tyler Nathe said  Friday.

The fire had charred 88,755 acres, or 139 square miles, as of Saturday morning, up from 61,425 acres, or 96 square miles, on Friday, fire officials said. It is now the sixth-largest wildfire ever recorded in Colorado and is burning with no containment. There are 1,245 firefighters and other workers responding to the Lee fire and nearby Elk fire.

The Lee fire began creating its own weather Friday afternoon as flames roared south into drainages filled with dry fuels, and the wildfire sent a pyrocumulus cloud 30,000 feet into the air that stirred up even more wind and made fire behavior worse, Nathe said.

How to prepare for a wildfire evacuation in Colorado

Federal fire maps show the Lee fire’s footprint extending south, crossing Fourteen Creek Road and Rio Blanco County Road 5.

Crews are focused on protecting structures and infrastructure, including oil and gas pipelines southwest of the fire, officials said Saturday afternoon.

Smoke from the Lee fire created enough shade over the Elk fire, 11 miles to the east, that firefighters could reinforce fire lines and gain 8% containment. Fire crews held the smaller wildfire to 14,502 acres as of Saturday.