12 mostly contained fires burning in state

Smoke and haze will be visible throughout Colorado on Monday as firefighters across the west continue to work to put out dozens of wildfires.

It’s been a difficult season for wildland firefighters around the county. In Colorado, five fires that started this season grew large enough to make the state’s top 20 list.

Presently, 12 wildfires are burning in the Centennial State, but most are at 90 percent containment.

Here’s a roundup of major wildfires around Colorado:

Silver Creek fire: Better weath er conditions helped firefighters on the Silver Creek fire as they continue to log and clear brush to build new fire lines and increase containment.

The fire, which is burning inside the Routt National Forest near the Gore Range, was 10 percent contained as of Monday morning and had burned 4,780 acres.

The Latigo Ranch, Old Park and Gore Lakes areas remain under mandatory evacuation by the Grand County Sheriff.

Cabin Lake fire: The Cabin Lake Fire, located 16 miles east of Meeker, is now more than 50 percent contained.

Officials expect that dry conditions and a new wind direction will put pressure Monday on con tainment lines on the north side of the fire in the vicinity of private residences.

No structures have been damaged yet, but officials say 46 residences and 81 other structures are threatened.

“An increasing probability of rain may dampen fuels and moderate fire behavior on Tuesday,” according to Monday’s update.

Trail heads and campgrounds in the South Fork White River area remain closed. BufordNew Castle Road, County Road 10, County Road 17 and Forest Service Road 601 are also closed.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Plateau fire: Firefighters are holding the lines on the Plateau fire and keeping it at 95 percent containment.

The fire has burned nearly 20,000 acres north of Dolores.

Officials lifted preevacuation notices last week, but an area closure is still in effect for National Forest System lands around the fire.

Crews assigned to the Plateau fire have been significantly downsized and assigned to other wildfires in the West.

Bull Favorable weather this weekend slowed the Bull Draw fire’s progress. The wildland fire, which is burning near Nucla, grew by just 260 acres Saturday. It was one of the smallest reported increases since the fire started July 29.

“This growth was mostly a result of the fire pushing further into Long Canyon and fire backing into previously unburned islands of vegetation inside the fire perimeter,” according to a release from fire officials.

Stage 1 Fire Restrictions remain in effect for National Forest lands on the Uncompahgre Plateau and Grand Mesa, Bureau of Land Management lands within the Uncompahgre Plateau Resource Area and unincorporated lands within Montrose and Mesa counties.

The fire, which has burned about 28,000 acres, was 21 percent contained as of Sunday.