JULY 16 UPDATE: 5 fires on Western Slope destroy more than 19,300 acres
Communities across Colorado’s Western Slope likely will feel the impact of wildfires for weeks to come as firefighters contend with challenging conditions while trying to protect homes and infrastructure.
The Turner Gulch fire burning southwest of Grand Junction in Mesa County exploded late Monday night and early Tuesday, racing across 7,000 acres in a matter of hours and forcing new evacuations, according to fire officials.
The 8,140-acre wildfire is now the largest burning in Colorado, and firefighters are facing steep terrain, extremely dry trees, brush and grass and high temperatures.
“It’s just not a good place to fight fire, and the fire wants to go,” Operations Section Chief Rob Powell said during a Tuesday afternoon briefing.
The Turner Gulch fire has not yet reached the size of the nearly 13,000-acre Deer Creek fire burning in eastern Utah, which crossed the Colorado line Monday night, according to Utah fire officials.
Although it’s unclear how exactly how far the Deer Creek fire has spread into western Colorado, the four other wildfires in the area have burned at least 14,651 acres, according to fire agencies.
An air-quality advisory was issued Tuesday morning by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for wildfire smoke.
The advisory will last through at least 9 a.m. Wednesday and covers Mesa, Delta, San Juan, Montrose, San Miguel, Ouray, Gunnison and Hinsdale counties.
“The best chance for smoke is expected in areas near and downwind of the fires,” the department’s Air Pollution Control Division stated. Westerly to northwesterly winds were forecast for Tuesday. “This means that locations east and southeast of the fires are likely to see the worst of it.”
Jump to: Deer Creek fire | South Rim fire | Wright Draw fire | Turner Gulch fire | Sowbelly fire
Deer Creek fire near Paradox
Utah’s Deer Creek fire grew nearly 3,000 acres from Monday to Tuesday and slowly spread across the state line, Utah fire officials said.
As of Tuesday night, the fire was burning on 12,906 acres in eastern Utah and western Colorado and was 7% contained, according to fire officials. That’s a 2,848-acre increase from Monday morning’s size estimate.
Although it’s unknown how many acres the Deer Creek fire has burned in Colorado, federal fire maps showed minimal spread Tuesday night, with the fire spotting a few areas near Ice Lake Creek in remote Montrose County, near Paradox and just north of Colorado 90.
Montrose officials closed several roads in the county’s West End, including the Rimrocker Trail at Q13 and Good roads, U5 Road at the turn to Buckeye Reservoir and X2 Road.
Fire officials expected the flames to continue to push east, operations section chief Jesse Schmidt said in a briefing.
South Rim fire near Montrose
The wildfire burning in and near Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park had scorched nearly 4,000 acres as of Tuesday night.
The South Rim fire has consumed 3,988 acres with no containment, according to federal officials.
The wildfire, burning about 15 miles northeast of the city of Montrose, is one of four fires sparked by lightning during a Thursday storm that are still burning.
Large fire growth is still possible because of abundant and extremely dry fuel sources, fire officials said Tuesday.
“Impacts from fire behavior are expected to continue for several weeks if no (monsoonal) season-ending event occurs,” officials said.
The park remains closed to the public, and mandatory evacuations are in effect for nearby homes and trails, including the Botswick Park area.
Turner Gulch fire and Wright Draw fire near Gateway
Two wildfires burning north of the small Mesa County community of Gateway have charred nearly 8,500 acres, according to federal fire officials.
The Turner Gulch fire ballooned overnight, spreading from 1,470 acres Monday afternoon to 8,140 acres Tuesday morning.
The growth happened with minimal wind and no sunlight, which shows how dry the pinyon-juniper, oak brush and grass fuels are, Powell, the operations section chief, said Tuesday.
Firefighters made some progress on fire lines along the southwest edge of the fire, but some terrain is too treacherous to drop crews into, Powell said.
Fire crews are focused on protecting homes and power and fiber-optic lines along the Colorado 141 corridor.
“Our technology is telling us this fire really wants to spot across the highway, and we don’t want that,” Powell said.
Although fire officials initially reported about 14 acres of growth on the Wright Draw fire on the other side of Unaweep Canyon, a subsequent update on the federal InciWeb fire map showed the size holding at 249 acres.
“All in all, it hasn’t done a whole lot, but I don’t trust it,” Powell said. “If it gets to the bottom of the draw, lines up with the slope and gets an updraft, it’s going to want to go.”
It’s unlikely the Turner Gulch fire will be fully contained in the next two weeks, he added.
Colorado 141 remains closed between 7.40 Road and 16.10 Road at mile marker 124 for the fire, officials said. The public is asked to avoid the area.
The area around Colorado 141 from mile marker 120 to mile marker 134 is under mandatory evacuation orders, Mesa County sheriff’s officials said. The stretch between mile markers 134 and 137 remains under pre-evacuation orders.
Sowbelly fire near Delta
The wildfire burning in the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Area on the edge of three western Colorado counties was still sitting at 2,274 acres on Tuesday with minimal growth, according to fire officials.
No containment has been made on the Sowbelly fire, which is burning in parts of Montrose, Delta and Mesa counties, fire officials said.
But crews are making progress on building a fire line to halt the “creeping and smoldering” fire, officials said Tuesday. Firefighters are working to keep the fire from spreading into Escalante Canyon and minimize damage to the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Area, which is about 12 miles west of Delta.
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