USA TODAY International Edition
Colo. wildfire grows to 195 square miles
California isn’t the only state battling ferocious wildfires.
A wildfire burning in western Colorado has grown into the second- largest in the state’s history, fire officials said Wednesday. As of Wednesday, the Pine Gulch fire has spread across more than 195 square miles, according to the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center. That’s equivalent to about nine Manhattan Islands.
The largest recorded wildfire in Colorado history was the Hayman Fire in 2002, which was 215.25 square miles.
The Pine Gulch Fire is 18 miles north of Grand Junction, Colorado, and started July 31 from a lightning spark.
The fire grew almost 60 square miles overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported, and the large increase and high winds brought a large amount of blowing ash into the Grand Junction area.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued a health advisory because of the smoke emitted by the wildfire and warned nearby residents to limit outdoor activities and stay inside.
The warnings especially apply to people with heart disease, respiratory illnesses, the young and the elderly.
It’s one of four fires responders are battling that have spread across more than 273 square miles. The other three, according to the governor’s office, are the Grizzly Creek Fire in Glenwood Canyon, the Williams Fork Fire in Grand County and the Cameron Peak Fire near Redfeather Lakes.
Gov. Jared Polis announced a ban on “campfires, fireworks and other open sources of ignition” for 30 days. He said making the ban statewide provides “clarity of message.”
“Since fires are often between counties and between jurisdictions, this will help reduce all of our risk,” Polis said. “As we’ve said before during coronavirus ... now is not the time to party. We add to that now, that now is not the time to have campfires or fireworks.”
Contributing: The Associated Press; Jordan Culver, USA TODAY