A pair of fires burning southwest of Grand Junction are now a top priority for emergency responders.
The Turner Gulch fire quadrupled in size Monday to 8,140 acres as winds pushed it east along Colorado Highway 141. The nearby Wright Draw fire — burning on the opposite side of the highway — grew to 341 acres by Tuesday morning, according to fire officials.
Both fires are in Unaweep Canyon, which cuts through the Uncompahgre Plateau between Whitewater and Gateway, Colo. It’s the only canyon in the world where creeks flow in opposite directions out of both ends, and it’s known for spectacular camping and rock climbing routes.
After its rapid growth on Monday, the Turner Gulch fire is now the largest fire burning entirely within Colorado’s borders. Despite its size, Michelle Kelly, a public information officer with the Rocky Mountain Complex Incident Management Team, told CPR News she isn’t aware of any structures lost to the fire so far.
An evacuation order for the area remains in effect along Colorado State Highway 141 between mile markers 120 and 134 near Gateway, Colorado. A portion of the highway is also closed in both directions as crews battle the blaze, blocking the normal route between Gateway and Grand Junction. A detour through Ridgway adds more than two hours to the trip.
An evacuation center is available at the Clifton County Community Campus at 3270 D½ Rd. in Clifton, Colo. Residents can’t sleep at the center, but officials will try to connect any displaced individuals to housing and other services.
Michaela Smiley arrived at the evacuation center with her two children, Landree and Ryland, on Tuesday. She said her family had carefully monitored the fire for days before the fire officials knocked on her door early that morning, telling her to evacuate as quickly as possible.
Smiley credited firefighters with protecting homes inside the canyon. At the same time, she said most vegetation around different manmade structures has been reduced to ashes, turning the picturesque canyon into a strange set of opposites.
“It gave me the chills,” Smiley said. “Everything burned and then there’s just these houses standing.”
Officials will hold a community meeting with updates on the fires on Wednesday, July 16 at 6 p.m. in Gateway.
Matthew Aleksa, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Grand Junction, said afternoon thunderstorms over the last few days haven’t brought enough rain to slow the fires. Quite the opposite: gusty winds from the storms have stoked the blazes, but current forecasts suggest more substantial rainfall could arrive by Friday.
“Unfortunately, the moisture push isn’t going to be long-lived or sustained, but it might provide some rain, enough to help,” Aleksa said.
CPR reporter Stina Sieg contributed to this report.
