A large wildfire that sparked in southeastern Utah last week and crossed into southwestern Colorado this week has damaged over a dozen structures, and now fire officials believe winds will push that fire deeper into Colorado on Wednesday.
The Deer Creek Fire was mapped at 14,760 acres and is still 7% contained, Utah Fire Info, a task force comprising state and federal agencies, said Wednesday morning. That means it’s grown by over 1,000 acres overnight, while containment had not grown since Tuesday morning.
“Last night, strong winds caused an increase in fire activity that pushed the fire further into Colorado. No additional evacuations have occurred, and firefighters will have a presence in Paradox assessing the fire’s location and taking suppression actions,” Utah Fire Info wrote on Facebook Wednesday morning. “Today, afternoon thunderstorms are again expected out of the west/southwest, with wind gusts up to 60mph possible. Fire crews continue to assess the western edge of the fire and work to cool any hot spots as the fire moves northeast.”
The buildings damaged by the fire include 11 private structures, a USDA Forest Service structure, and a communications site, according to Utah Fire Info.
The Deer Creek Fire is the largest of several wildfires in southwestern Colorado that have thrown huge clouds of smoke into the air and prompted a disaster declaration from Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, air quality alerts, and evacuations in and around Montrose County.
Over 400 people are now involved in the effort to extinguish the fire, and crews are using helicopters, fixed-wing airtankers, dozers, and other ground equipment.
Further north, the Wright Draw Fire, at 448 acres, and the nearby Turner Gulch Fire, at almost 14,000 acres, north of Gateway, Colorado, are also largely uncontained.
To the east, the Sowbelly Fire is at 2,274 acres, but crews have seen gains in containment efforts, which are at 13% as of Wednesday morning.
And the South Rim Fire, near the southern end of Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, is at 4,160 acres. No containment figures for that fire were immediately available.
