Wildfires ignite in Douglas County, add to damage from western slope blazes

At least four uncontained wildfires burning across Colorado s western slope on Sunday which together have destroyed thousands of acres amid hot dry weather prompted Gov Jared Polis to issue a calamity declaration Four progressing fires were sparked by the same Thursday afternoon lightning storm and a fifth was on the verge of spanning into Colorado from Utah on Sunday according to fire agencies As those fires continued to burn for the fourth day another group sparked in Douglas County near Chatfield State Park according to South Metro Fire Rescue The size and cause of the metro-area fires remain unknown but Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson Kara Van Hoose declared one burned at least acres inside the state park That small section of fire was extinguished Sunday afternoon but videos posted on social media by South Metro Fire Rescue evidenced the flames continue to spread across the grassy open space sending up a wall of smoke It s challenging for crews to get a size estimate because multiple spot fires are burning in the area South Metro Fire Rescue spokesperson Brian Willie stated The group of fires is in an area that stretches about miles alongside U S from Titan Road to Kelly Court Willie disclosed It s also about as wide as the gap from U S to Waterton Road but not all of the area is burning Willie stated the cause of the fires remains under analysis The first flames were released just after p m Sunday near the train tracks and a train was proven in the area but it s unknown if that s what sparked the fires he stated As of p m Sunday the four lightning-sparked fires on the western slope had charred nearly acres according to acreages released by various agencies battling the fires across three counties The South Rim fire at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Montrose County had grown to roughly acres with no containment when it was mapped Saturday night according to the National Park Arrangement Updated numbers were not available Sunday evening Dry weather high temperatures and strong winds spurred the fire s rapid increase on Saturday fire agents declared The mandatory evacuation zone is bordered to the west by Lateral Ditch Road the north by Black Canyon the south by U S and the east by East Portal according to the National Park Utility It s unclear how numerous people have evacuated Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park remained closed to the populace on Sunday with no timeline to reopen To the west the Sowbelly fire burning in the Dominguez Canyon Wilderness Area grew to acres across Montrose Delta and Mesa counties according to the Bureau of Land Management Two more fires in mountainous terrain near Gateway in Mesa County are proving intricate and dangerous for firefighters to tackle Operations Section Chief Tim Lavin declared in a Sunday morning briefing The Turner Gulch fire spread to roughly acres of Bureau of Land Management property Lavin mentioned That s nearly double the acres it was burning on Saturday evening Hotshot crews are working on containment lines around the fire but the mountainous area makes it dangerous for crews to work he revealed Nearby the Wright Draw fire had destroyed at least acres That estimate is from Saturday night but no size update was available Sunday The Wright Draw fire is sitting up on a very high very steep terrain ledge Lavin stated That fire nowadays has crept down and if it gets into this North Fork West Creek it will make a considerable run So we re trying to prepare for that As of Sunday evening Utah s Deer Creek fire had not yet been certified to cross the Colorado margin according to crisis functionaries Related Articles Douglas County wildfires prompt evacuations spread over miles Man fatally shot in Denver apartment police searching for subjects Colorado wildfires Gov Polis makes calamity declaration for wildfires burning thousands of acres on western slope killed in shooting at Arapahoe County house party killed several injured in shuttle bus crash near Denver International Airport The Deer Creek fire was fleetly approaching the Utah-Colorado boundary on Sunday after already destroying more than acres in eastern Utah largely on U S Forest Facility land according to fire functionaries It s still part of Gov Polis accident declaration and plan to allocate state information but bureaucrats won t know if it s crossed the margin until planes can run an infrared scan and generate a new fire map Sunday evening Utah authorities noted Polis activated Colorado s State Crisis Operations and Stock Mobilization plans in response to the fires according to a news release from his office Those plans coordinate staff and information through the State Crisis Operations Center and the Division of Fire Prevention and Control State tools will join hundreds of firefighters already on the ground across the state to fight the wildfires Get more Colorado news by signing up for our daily Your Morning Dozen email newsletter