Fast-moving wildfire forces evacuation of Colorado prison
A Colorado prison was evacuated due to a fast-growing wildfire that's already one of the largest in state history, officials said.
The ongoing spread of the Lee Fire in western Colorado forced the relocation of 179 incarcerated individuals at the Rifle Correctional Center to the Buena Vista Correctional Complex on Aug. 9, a Colorado Department of Corrections news release said. While no injuries were reported at the prison — located about 70 miles northeast of Grand Junction, Colorado — all the inmates were moved outside the fire area "out of an abundance of caution."
The Lee Fire, which began on Aug. 2, has quickly burned more than 106,700 acres, according to an update on InciWeb on Aug. 10. The blaze has reached 6% containment.
Firefighters are battling near-critical fire weather, including lower humidity and periods of gusty winds. Despite cooler temperatures, the fire is aided by drier vegetation and steep slopes.
The blaze is nearing the fifth-largest by acreage in state history, the 2018 Spring Creek Fire, which burned over 108,000 acres. All of Colorado's 20 largest fires have occurred in the last 25 years, according to the state Division of Fire Prevention and Control.
The cause of the Lee Fire is still undetermined. In an overview of the fire, InciWeb, a government website that monitors wildfires, said the Lee and Grease fires, which eventually formed together, were "discovered on August 2nd as lightning strikes on Bureau of Land Management land in the Piceance area."
'Drought with severe and extreme weather conditions, along with multiple days of red flag warnings and heightened fire activity, the Lee fire grew over 100,000 acres in eight days,' according to InciWeb.
Several western states, including Colorado, are battling large wildfires. California has its largest fire of 2025: Over 118,000 acres are estimated to have burned in the Gifford Fire, with 33% containment, according to InciWeb.
Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@usatoday.com or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
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