Wildfires in Colorado burning eight miles apart are forcing evacuations in Boulder, Larimer counties

Rising temperatures and tinder-dry conditions caused the Alexander Mountain fire to rage across 5,080 acres of national forest near Loveland on Tuesday, while a new wildfire ignited just eight miles south in Lyon, forcing further evacuations and possibly destroying two buildings .

The Stone Canyon fire was reported north of Lyon at 1:30 p.m. and grew to an estimated 1,000 acres by Tuesday evening.

Mandatory evacuation orders went out within an hour and quickly spread into Larimer County, and variable winds forced evacuations in the city of Lyons later Tuesday afternoon.

Rough boundaries of the mandatory evacuation zone including Cattle Drive Road in Larimer County to the north; Rabbit Mountain and Carter Lake Reservoir to the east; US 36 in Lyon to the south; and Elk Ridge and the end of Hell Canyon Road to the west. Current evacuation maps are available online at boulderodm.gov.

County officials received unconfirmed reports of two buildings destroyed by the fire, but could not yet say where those buildings are located.

“Conditions are about as bad as they can get for fighting this fire,” Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson said in a briefing Tuesday afternoon. “I expect it will take days before we can really get it under control.”

About 70 firefighters and several aircraft are focused on slowing the blaze, protecting structures and making sure people are safe, Johnson said.

Firefighting planes and helicopters were able to respond so quickly to the Stone Mountain fire because it is just eight miles south of the Alexander Mountain fire, Johnson said.

Fire officials are hopeful the wildfires are not related, but are sharing information and resources, he said.

The Alexander Mountain fire grew rapidly overnight and throughout the day Tuesday due to extremely dry fuels and weather conditions, U.S. Forest Service Incident Commander Mike Smith said during a briefing Tuesday afternoon.

Fire officials don’t yet have a map of the wildfire footprint because of how quickly it is changing, Smith said. As of Tuesday afternoon, there was no containment.

“We hope this improves, but that will really depend on whether Mother Nature gives us a break,” Smith said.

The weather forecast for the rest of the week is not in firefighters’ favor, Smith and Johnson said. Forecasts from the National Weather Service show temperatures reaching the mid to high 90s through Friday, when there is a 30% chance of thunderstorms.

Fire officials expanded the mandatory evacuation zone Tuesday and the rough boundaries now include Storm Mountain to the north, Devil’s Backbone Open Space to the east, Indian Mountain to the south and Crosier Mountain to the west. Current evacuation maps are available online at nocoalert.org.

County officials have sent mandatory evacuation notices to more than 3,200 contacts and another 800 voluntary evacuation warnings. According to the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office, contacts do not equal the number of people evacuated because households often have multiple contacts registered with the county’s emergency alert system.

There were 270 firefighters attacking the Alexander Mountain fire from the ground and 17 aircraft coordinating firefighting efforts and dropping water and retardant. They include a “super scooper” aircraft that sucks in water without stopping and can dump a lot of water onto a fire very quickly, Smith said.

Firefighters saw the fire spreading west, north and east in the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, and shifting winds began pushing the fire further north late Tuesday.

The fire has not yet crossed U.S. 34 south and officials hope rocky terrain will slow the fire’s growth, Smith said in an earlier briefing.

According to Smith and Johnson, response teams on both fires are facing a national shortage of firefighting equipment caused by the large number of wildfires in the United States.

The Alexander Mountain fire will be escalated to a complex incident management team on Wednesday, which will “involve many more resources,” Smith said during Tuesday afternoon’s briefing.

Fire officials hope sharp crews will be deployed because of their expertise in challenging terrain and technical assignments, he said.