Fast-moving wildfires scorch thousands of acres across the West, and there’s more danger ahead

By Kate S. Petersen, Alaa Elassar, Karina Tsui and meteorologist Chris Dolce

(CNN) — Dozens of wildfires are raging in multiple states across the western United States, burning homes and National Forest lands and forcing the evacuations of entire towns.

Low humidity, dry vegetation and strong winds are driving the rapid growth of already established fires and sparking new blazes throughout the central West.

A new set of red flag warnings — an alert indicating a combination of high temperatures, low humidity and strong winds — were issued Tuesday across large swaths of Colorado and Utah, as well as portions of Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming and Nebraska through Tuesday evening. The conditions during a red flag warning can exacerbate ongoing fires.

In southern Colorado, the Aspen Acres Fire ignited Monday morning, and within hours had exploded to more than 23,000 acres, prompting evacuations of thousands of people across two counties. The fire has burned 28,000 acres and at least 155 structures as of Tuesday afternoon, officials said.

On Saturday, three firefighters were killed battling the Snyder Fire along the Utah-Colorado border. The crew was overtaken by a fast-moving blaze with no viable escape route or safety zone, the US Wildland Fire Service said. Two additional firefighters were injured during the same incident.

Dangerous fire weather conditions are expected to continue through the rest of the week, worsening near the week’s end, meaning there’s no end in sight for the beleaguered region.

Evacuations ordered as tens of thousands of acres burn in Colorado

Sixteen wildfires were burning across Colorado as of Monday night, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said, spurring several state emergency declarations across the state.

One of those declarations was in Mesa County in response to the deadly Snyder Fire, which reached more than 30,000 acres Tuesday morning. Polis also authorized the state’s National Guard to support response efforts.

To the east, evacuations are in place for areas across Pueblo and Custer counties as the Aspen Acres Fire continues to be a threat. While weather conditions and firefighting efforts helped manage some of the fire growth Tuesday morning, high winds in the afternoon are a concern in the effort to keep it under control, Pueblo County Sheriff David Lucero said during a news conference.

Evacuations have also been ordered for areas around the Willow Fire in Lake County and the Gold Mountain Fire in Ouray County, and other fires have sprouted up around the state.

Many counties across Colorado instituted fire restrictions, including banning fireworks, ahead of the Fourth of July, but Polis also encouraged people “to exercise personal responsibility” with fireworks or other things that might start a fire.

“We owe it to the firefighters on the front lines to prevent new fires from starting,” he said during a news conference Monday.

Utah’s unprecedented fire conditions drive city-sized blaze

Last week in neighboring Utah, severe fire conditions drove the National Weather Service office in Salt Lake City to issue its first-ever “particularly dangerous situation” red flag warning for central and southern parts of the state.

Now, twelve fires encompassing nearly 300,000 acres are burning across across the state.

The Cottonwood Fire in southern Utah had grown to nearly 100,000 acres as of Monday night, an area bigger than Salt Lake City. It is only 4% contained, according to InciWeb data. Evacuations remain in place for the blaze, which officials say is likely the most destructive and expensive in state history.

An estimated 150 structures have been lost in the fire, Alyssa Mason, a Great Basin Team 5 spokesperson, told CNN. She said assessments are ongoing, and crews are expecting to find additional losses.

Before the Cottonwood Fire ignited, the 2018 Dollar Ridge Fire, which destroyed 74 homes, was considered the most destructive fire in Utah history, Karl Hunt, public affairs officer with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands, told CNN.

The Wild Goose Fire ignited near Holden, Utah, on Friday, and has burned more than 10,000 acres and is 6% contained, according to Inciweb data.

Farther southeast, the Babylon Fire prompted the Manti-La Sal National Forest to issue an emergency closure Sunday. Part of Canyonlands National Park was also closed. As of Monday, it was nearing 40,000 acres, according to data from Inciweb.

Last week, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox announced Fourth of July firework restrictions statewide in an effort to prevent new wildfires.

More dangerous fire weather ahead

Tuesday’s most dangerous fire weather conditions will be over the areas where the worst fires are burning. Much of western and central Colorado, eastern Utah, northern Arizona and northwest New Mexico will experience strong wind gusts between 30 to 45 mph and relative humidity in the low single digits.

The forecast the rest of the week is not much better. Wednesday could offer a small break from the strongest winds, but then windy conditions will worsen again Thursday and Friday and ramp up fire danger to critical levels in parts of the Southwest.

A larger break from stronger winds could take hold sometime this weekend into early next week, but the region will remain parched.

CNN Meteorologist Dakota Smith and CNN’s Amanda Musa, Taylor Romine and Hanna Park contributed to this report.

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