Pine Gulch fire just will not quit as it burns 125,252 acres, new evacuation orders
Hot, dry conditions on Colorado’s Western Slope continue to fuel the Pine Gulch fire as the amount of burnt acreage climbed to 125,252 as of Wednesday evening, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
New evacuation orders have been issued for the northwest side early Wednesday evening:
From the Mesa County line north to the east/west Colorado Highway 256 (Four A Ridge Road) including north/south CO Hwy 256. 256/205 moving from pre-evacuation to full evacuation.
From Highway 139 Douglas Pass road east to the preexisting evacuation order for Carr Creek Road (207).
This includes CO Hwy 205 Salt Wash and Kimball Creek Road (202) on Kimball Mountain.
CO Hwy 258/King Road is evacuated.
Meteorologists said that the fire grew so rapidly because strong outflow winds Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning aligned with drainages in the Echo Lake area and gusted up to 40 mph over a three to-four hour period, according to a press release from the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team.
The fire, which broke out 18 miles north of Grand Junction, is scorching brush and trees at a rapid pace. Nearly 800 firefighters are racing to tame the blaze. They have managed to to keep the fire at 7% containment since Sunday.
The fire is the fifth largest in state history behind the High Park fire, Spring Creek fire, West Fork complex fire, and Hayman fire — the largest at 138,114 acres.
Severe drought in the region continues to facilitate prime conditions for the fire’s spread.
“With the winds added to the already hot and dry conditions, there is a possibility for extreme, wind-and-fuels-driven fire behavior with high rates of spread, as we saw over the past two days,” the Bureau of Land Management wrote.
About 35 Garfield County residents have been evacuated and only an outbuilding and a shed have been destroyed by the fire, BLM spokesman Eric Coulter said.
– Williams Fork fire continues burning unabated in Grand County
– Grizzly Creek fire spares Hanging Lake but keeps I-70 closed
– Cameron Peak fire west of Fort Collins forces evacuations
– 12 biggest wildfires in Colorado history
The Wyoming Hotshots performing firing operations on night shift, August 11. Photo courtesy Kyle Miller/Wyoming Hotshots
Photo courtesy of Rocky mountain Incident Management Team.
jessica.snouwaert@gazettedev.gazette.com
Flames from the Pine Gulch fire light up the night on Aug. 8, 2020. Courtesy of Incident Information System.