Colorado wildfires: Elk fire fully contained, Lee fire continues to burn

Lauren Penington, The Denver Post on Aug 17, 2025

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While afternoon thunderstorms on Saturday helped firefighters contain one blaze burning on the Western Slope, another nearby fire is close to becoming the fourth-largest on record in Colorado.

As of Saturday night, the Lee fire was burning on 137,453 acres between Meeker and Rifle in Rio Blanco County.

The wildfire is 307 acres smaller than Colorado’s fourth-largest fire on record, the 137,760-acre Hayman fire that sparked in 2002. It’s also just over 1,500 acres smaller than the 139,007-acre Pine Gulch fire from 2020, Colorado’s third-largest wildfire.

A second wildfire burning to the east, the 14,518-acre Elk fire, was fully contained Saturday, fire officials said.

Lee and Elk fires near Meeker

The lightning-sparked Lee and Elk fires have been burning on opposite sides of Meeker in Rio Blanco County for more than two weeks, together consuming hundreds of square miles.

As of Saturday night, the 137,453-acre Lee fire was 42% contained.

It’s currently the fifth-largest wildfire on record in Colorado, according to the state’s Division of Fire Prevention and Control.

Saturday afternoon thunderstorms dropped between 1/4 and 1/2 inches of rain over the southern half of the Lee fire, the most significant rain the area has seen in a while, meteorologist Julie Malingowski said during a Saturday night community meeting in Meeker.

The northern perimeter of the fire saw less rain, about 1/10 of an inch, Malingowski said.

Heavy rain showers also fell over the southwestern portion of the 14,518-acre Elk fire, helping bring it to full containment.

Sunday is expected to be warmer and drier, a trend forecast to continue throughout the week. Temperatures will peak in the 90s mid-week as relative humidities drop back into the single digits, Malingowski said.

There will be no precipitation or chance for thunderstorms from Monday through Wednesday, she said. Moisture will begin to return on Thursday, but rain showers aren’t expected until Saturday.

Fire danger will remain high in the area until it gets roughly 3 more inches of rain, fire behavior analyst Béla Harrington said during the Saturday night meeting.

“This little bit of moisture has been nice, it’s going to give us a little bit of a respite, but we’re going right back into critical fire behavior and fire danger,” Harrington said.

The Elk fire is fully contained, but wind could send embers over the fire line and create spot fires, he said. Crews remain “ever vigilant” as the interior of the fire burns itself out.

“We’re not out of the woods yet,” Harrington said.

Colorado 13 reopened Saturday for the first time since the fires started on Aug. 2, and some mandatory evacuations were lifted.

The wildfire burn areas are closed to the public, and multiple zones on the Lee fire’s southern edge remain under mandatory evacuation orders. Previously evacuated areas surrounding both the Lee and Elk fires were moved back to pre-evacuation status, fire officials said.

The two wildfires have destroyed five homes and 14 outbuildings. Fire officials said the blazes were difficult to fight because of steep terrain, gusty winds, heat and extreme drought.

Stoner Mesa fire, near Dolores

A wildfire burning in the San Juan National Forest on Colorado’s Western Slope consumed another 1,000 acres overnight, fire officials said Sunday morning.

The lightning-sparked Stoner Mesa fire is burning on 8,369 acres in Dolores County with no containment, up from 7,390 on Saturday, fire officials said.

Warmer temperatures, stronger winds and drier weather are forecast to start Sunday and continue throughout the week, bringing with it “increased fire activity,” according to a Sunday morning update.

Flying embers have sparked multiple spot fires near the main burn area that firefighters are working to extinguish Sunday, according to the update.

The nearby town of Rico remains on pre-evacuation status, and parts of the national forest are closed to the public because of the fire.

Crosho fire near Yampa

More than 200 structures are threatened by a wildfire burning in western Colorado, but none have yet been destroyed, fire officials said.

The 2,002-acre Crosho fire burning on the border of Rio Blanco and Routt counties west of Yampa was reported Saturday at 2,200 acres, fire officials said. More accurate mapping revealed the fire’s burn area was smaller than previously estimated, according to a Sunday morning update.

As of Sunday morning, the fire was 5% contained and mandatory evacuation orders remained in effect north of the blaze. The Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest also remains closed around the fire.

Multiple evacuation orders were canceled Sunday morning, moving areas south and east of the fire onto pre-evacuation status. Residents should be prepared to re-evacuate if fire activity escalates.

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