Colorado wildfires: Crews bring largest fire under 34% containment as growth slows

DENVER — Fire crews working across western Colorado made more progress containing and slowing the growth of several wildfires Thursday.

The largest fire of the bunch — the Turner Gulch Fire near Gateway — is now 34% contained, a sharp improvement from 9% reported Thursday morning. The wildfire’s growth also slowed, increasing by 179 acres to 15,179 acres burned.

The South Rim fire, near Montrose, increased only slightly, and is now 14% contained, as cloud cover Thursday helped curb fire activity and enabled crews’ progress. The Sowbelly fire near Delta remained at 2,274 acres burned as of Friday morning, though a fire map of the blaze hasn’t been updated since Thursday evening. Containment is also unchanged, at 16%. Crews also made progress containing the Utah side of the Deer Creek fire, and some residents there began returning home Thursday.

Collectively, the fires have burned more than 23,000 acres in Colorado since they ignited last week. Another brush fire — the Cottonwood Flat fire — was reported Thursday afternoon, prompting evacuation orders for residents with a mile of 1800 County Road 309. The fire was burning on that county road, south of I-70 between Rulison and Parachute. The nearby U.S. 6 was reopened late Thursday night, the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office said.

For the third straight day, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued an air quality health advisory for Mesa and Montrose counties Friday morning because of the wildfire smoke. The advisory is in effect until Saturday at 9 a.m.

Turner Gulch fire and Wright Draw fire near Gateway

Firefighters have made more progress in containing the state’s largest wildfire, bringing the Turner Gulch blaze to 34% containment as of Friday morning, primarily on the fire’s western edge. That’s up from 9% Thursday morning. The fire has now burned 15,179 acres, a slower rate of growth than the 1,000 acres reported burned between Wednesday and Thursday.

“Today was a good day,” fire officials wrote on Facebook on Thursday night, adding that crews would spend the night “removing vegetation along the east side” of the fire.

In a Friday morning update, fire officials said crews are working to keep the fire contained in difficult terrain. Bulldozers are working parts of the fire, and structures are being prepared.

“Due to great work by firefighters and reduced fire activity along the (Colorado) 141 corridor, containment of the Turner Gulch Fire has increased to 34%,” fire officials wrote. “A values-driven strategy for suppressing these fires is being developed using a combination of handline, dozer line, and firing operations.”

The Mesa County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday night issued a pre-evacuation notice for private land within the Uncompahgre National Forest from Forest Road 406 to 409. Officials have also launched an interactive evacuation map for the fires.

To the west, the nearby Wright Draw fire held steady at 448 acres for the third consecutive day, albeit with 0% containment. Fire officials said Friday morning that the fire’s progress has been slowed by aerial resources, keeping the flame from crossing North Fork West Creek.

The two fires are still burning around Colorado 141, which is still closed between 7.40 Road and 16.10 Road at mile marker 124, according to the state Department of Transportation.

Deer Creek fire near Paradox

The wildfire burning near the Colorado-Utah border had burned 15,655 acres as of Friday morning, with 11% contained — up from 7% Thursday. The bulk of the blaze has burned in Utah, though more than 1,800 acres of Colorado land have been torched.

In a Thursday night update, fire officials said on Facebook that increased cloud cover and humidity, plus light winds, helped calm the fire’s behavior and contributed to additional containment on the fire’s western edge.

On Friday, officials wrote that firefighters “made excellent progress” on Thursday on the north and east sides of the fire, and some residents in Utah began returning home.

“On the west end near Paradox, crews are assessing structures and building a contingency dozer line,” fire official said. “Helicopters and Unmanned Aerial Systems continue to support efforts on difficult terrain where conditions are unsafe to put firefighters on the ground. Smoke remains in the area, and drivers near the Highway 46/90 corridor should watch for fire traffic and reduced visibility.”

Friday’s forecast called for “a range of possibilities,” officials wrote, with clouds and rain expected by mid-morning.

Fire maps showed Thursday that the Deer Creek fire was burning on a section of Colorado more than 2 miles long and wide.

South Rim fire near Montrose

The 4,227-acre South Rim fire grew 48 acres Thursday, another day of slow growth for a fire that was ignited by a lightning strike last weekend.

The fire, which is burning the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, is now at 14% containment, according to a Friday morning report from the Rocky Mountain Area Complex Incident Management Team 3. Forecasted thunderstorms never arrived Thursday, but cloud cover helped keep fire activity low, the team said. Water dropped from helicopters were used on the southern end of the fire, where flames were “slowly creeping down the canyon from the knife-edge ridge.”

The team said that crews will use hand tools and heavy equipment to work the northwest, west and southwest areas of the fire, while mop-up work continues on other areas of the western section. Vegetation is still being removed.

The national park remains closed to the public. None of the previously issued evacuation orders have been lifted, and several areas west, south and southeast of the fire — including the Bostwick Park area — remain under evacuation orders, according to the evacuation map.

Colorado 347 is also still closed at the junction of U.S. 50.

The Blue Mesa Reservoir is also closed west of Middle Bridge, and the Lake Fort Boat Ramp is closed for boat launches.

The Curecanti National Recreation Area remains open to the public.

--------------