New evacuations ordered as Colorado's Willow Fire grows nearly 1,000 acres in 24 hours

Authorities have issued new evacuation and pre-evacuation orders for areas surrounding the Willow Fire west of Leadville, Colorado, following a significant increase in its size. The wildfire grew by nearly 1,000 acres in the past 24 hours, bringing its total acreage to 3,957 acres. The new mandatory evacuation order affects Halfmoon Road, a route providing access to popular camping spots and the trailhead for Mount Massive, Colorado's second-highest peak. Additionally, the Lake Fork Trailer Park is under mandatory evacuation. Residents and visitors in Zone 6A were ordered to leave by noon on Sunday. Pre-evacuation warnings were also issued for Zones 1, 4, 7, and 9, bordering Chaffee County, indicating potential threats to areas including the northern side of Twin Lakes and the eastern stretch of State Highway 82. Fire crews are working to establish containment lines, utilizing controlled burns and aerial slurry drops, and aiming to use natural terrain features to steer the fire away from fuel-rich areas. Nick Castro, an operations chief with the Southwest Area Complex Incident Management Team, described the southern boundary as an "area of concern" due to "historic dryness" and "record-setting (low) fuel moistures." The Willow Fire ignited on June 28 and remains only 1% contained. The cause of the fire is currently undetermined. New shelters for evacuees have been established at the Buena Vista Public Safety Complex and Battle Mountain High School, and the Leadville Regional Airport is closed to non-emergency air traffic.

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historic dryness right now