Fire in Ouray burning over 4,000 acres
The Gold Mountain fire in Ouray grew rapidly over the weekend, and the county has declared a state of emergency. As of yesterday evening, it had grown to over 4,000 acres. The cause remains under investigation. Evacuation orders were put into place for several neighborhoods, and a shelter is open at Ridgway Secondary school. You can find more information about evacuations at ouraycountyco.gov. As of 10:09 a.m yesterday morning, there had been no reporting of lost structures.
During live shows, KVNF DJs will provide updates at the top and bottom of every hour. Stay tuned to IN OURAY at 90.1, and in Ridgway at 88.9 for regular updates.
Snyder fire contributes to smoke in Western Colorado
If you’re in the KVNF listening area, you may have seen or smelled smoke in the area over the weekend. Some of this smoke is coming from the Gold Mountain Fire in Ouray, but most has come from a large fire west of Grand Junction.
The Snyder Fire on the Colorado-Utah state line was burning over 28-thousand acres on mostly BLM land, and was zero percent contained as of yesterday morning. Three firefighters were tragically killed and two others were injured fighting the blaze on Saturday.
Governor Jared Polis has verbally declared a disaster emergency and has authorized the national guard to assist.
Carolina Llanes reports for Rocky Mountain Community Radio that the fire began as two smaller fires, both started by dry lightning strikes, which then combined on Saturday.
Extreme fire weather caused the fire to grow rapidly, from just over a thousand acres on Saturday to over 28-thousand on Sunday.
The U.S. Wildland Fire Service reports that three firefighters died while responding to the blaze, and two more were hospitalized with injuries.
The National Weather Service has upgraded a red flag warning, which signals low humidity, high winds, and dry fuels, to what it calls a “Particularly Dangerous Situation.”
The BLM has closed the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area to recreation for firefighter safety, and the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office evacuated campers from the banks of the Colorado River on Saturday night.
Smoke from the Snyder Fire and several other large fires burning in central and southern Utah, as well as the Ferris Fire in Southwest Colorado, has caused poor air quality throughout the region.
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel mistakenly reports that local firefighters were airlifted out of fire
While the blaze was growing on the Utah-Colorado border on Saturday, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel reported that five Grand Junction firefighters had been rescued and airlifted from the Glade Park area– but that actually wasn’t true. The Grand Junction Fire Department later stated that no Grand Junction Fire Department personnel were assigned to the fire in that area. The Daily Sentinel stated in its original article that the information was based on radio scanner traffic originally posted on JunctionNow.com. The Fire Department says that it was not contacted to verify the information before it was published in the Sentinel, and that the inaccuracy had immediate and significant consequences. Members of the department and their families were left to wonder if their colleagues or loved ones had been seriously injured. The Fire Department command staff worked with its union chapter to proactively contact the families of on-duty personnel to reassure them that no Grand Junction firefighters had been involved in the incident. During crises, like wildfires, it’s easy for false information to spread quickly. In these moments, it’s important to verify information with official sources.
Coloradans vote in primary elections this week
Colorado voters must return their ballots by 7pm on Tuesday for this year’s primary elections.
There are several key statewide races on the ballot in addition to some key congressional seats around the state.
Bente Birkeland, who reports for CPR with the Colorado Capitol News Alliance, has been speaking with voters around the state about what issues matter most to them.
She spoke with Rocky Mountain Community Radio’s Maeve Conran about what she’s been hearing.
