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Garfield County | Accessibility
Recording of the Community Meeting on August 11, 2025 at Colorado Mountain College at 7 p.m.
Check your zone on this INTERACTIVE EVACUATION MAP (search your address).
The Elk and Lee Fire Information Facebook page
Garfield County: REGISTER FOR ALERTS – garco911.com, INCIDENT UPDATES/SUBSCRIBE – garfieldcounty.net, FACEBOOK – facebook.com/garcosheriff
Air Quality Health Advisory for Wildfire Smoke
Avisos en Español para todo el Estado (Colorado)
Issued for Rio Blanco, Garfield, Mesa and southern Routt Counties
Issued at 8:00 AM MDT, Tuesday, August 12, 2025
Issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Affected Area: Rio Blanco, Garfield, Mesa and southern Routt Counties. Locations include, but are not limited to Meeker, Glenwood Springs, Grand Junction, Gateway, and Phippsburg.
Advisory in Effect: 8:00 AM MDT, Tuesday, August 12, 2025 to 9:00 AM MDT, Wednesday, August 13, 2025
Public Health Recommendations: If smoke is thick or becomes thick in your neighborhood you may want to remain indoors. This is especially true for those with heart disease, respiratory illnesses, the very young, and older adults. Consider limiting outdoor activity when moderate to heavy smoke is present. Consider relocating temporarily if smoke is present indoors and is making you ill. If visibility is less than 5 miles in smoke in your neighborhood, smoke has reached levels that are unhealthy.
Outlook: Smoke from large wildfires in Rio Blanco County will impact the advisory area through at least Tuesday morning. The heaviest smoke impacts will be in areas in close vicinity to the fires, especially during the overnight and early morning hours.
8.11.25, 2:01 pm – There will be a public meeting for the Lee Fire tonight, Monday, August 11 at 7 p.m. in the auditorium at the Colorado Mountain College Rifle Campus (3695 Airport Rd, Rifle, CO).
Attendees will hear updates from fire managers and agency representatives, and will have an opportunity to ask questions during the break-out session following the main presentation.
The meeting will be recorded, and the video will be posted here on the Elk and Lee Fires Information Facebook Page after the event.
COMMUNITY NOTICE
8.11.25
GARFIELD COUNTY, CO – The State of Colorado’s motor vehicle system is down at the Garfield County Clerk and Recorder’s Office in Rifle due to the Lee Fire. The estimated time for repair is unknown, but the system is operational at the clerk’s office at the Garfield County Courthouse, 109 8th Street, Suite 200, in Glenwood Springs. Please contact the clerk’s office in Glenwood Springs at 970-384-3700 or visit the motor vehicle website for more information.
8.11.25, 10:55 am – Morning Operational Briefing for Elk and Lee Fires dated August 11, 2025.
Reminder: tonight there is a public meeting at Colorado Mountain College, Rifle Campus at 7pm
Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office
BLM Colorado Fire
Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control
Bureau of Land Management – Colorado
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
U.S. Forest Service – White River National Forest
Bureau of Land Management Fire
Garfield County Sheriff’s Office – Colorado
Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority
Rifle Police Department
8.11.25, 9:01 am – Good morning from the Elk and Lee fires.
As of this morning, current acreage for the Elk Fire at is at 14,635 and 30% contained, the Lee Fire is at 113,378 Acres and 7% contained.
Daily update and maps to come later this morning.
Rio Blanco County Sheriff’s Office
BLM Colorado Fire
Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control
Bureau of Land Management – Colorado
Colorado Parks and Wildlife
U.S. Forest Service – White River National Forest
Bureau of Land Management Fire
Garfield County Sheriff’s Office – Colorado
Garfield County Emergency Communications Authority
Rifle Police Department
For Garfield County alerts register at https://www.garco911.com view Garfield County updates at https://www.garfieldcounty.net
Air Quality Health Advisory for Wildfire Smoke
Avisos en Español para todo el Estado (Colorado)
Issued for Rio Blanco, Garfield, Eagle, Pitkin and Gunnison Counties
Issued at 8:20 AM MDT, Monday, August 11, 2025
Issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Affected Area: Rio Blanco, Garfield, Eagle, Pitkin and Gunnison Counties. Locations include, but are not limited to Meeker, Glenwood Springs, Eagle, Vail, Aspen and Gunnison.
Advisory in Effect: 9:00 AM MDT, Monday, August 11, 2025 to 9:00 AM MDT, Tuesday, August 12, 2025
Public Health Recommendations: If smoke is thick or becomes thick in your neighborhood you may want to remain indoors. This is especially true for those with heart disease, respiratory illnesses, the very young, and older adults. Consider limiting outdoor activity when moderate to heavy smoke is present. Consider relocating temporarily if smoke is present indoors and is making you ill. If visibility is less than 5 miles in smoke in your neighborhood, smoke has reached levels that are unhealthy.
Outlook: Smoke from large wildfires in Rio Blanco County is impacting a large area of western and central Colorado. Periods of moderate to heavy smoke are possible throughout the advisory area on Monday and Tuesday.
Thanks to calmer winds and fire crews dropping large amounts of water and slurry, progress on the south side of the fire has slowed the fire significantly. Tomorrow, aerial support will resume with additional water and slurry drops.
The fire is now 6% contained. This will be the last update for the evening; we will provide more information following tomorrow’s Incident Management Team briefing..
For emergency alerts, please visit garco911.com and sign up. For the most accurate information on the Lee Fire, please follow the Interactive Evacuation Map at: http://bit.ly/lee-fire-zones.
Stay updated through the following channels:
Thank you for staying informed and safe.
Issued for Routt, Rio Blanco, Eagle, Garfield, Gilpin, Jackson, Grand and Clear Creek Counties
Issued at 7:34 AM MDT, Wednesday, August 6, 2025
Issued by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
Colorado statewide air quality conditions, forecasts, and advisories
At around 6:56 p.m., the Glenwood Springs Fire Department received a report of a brush fire on the hillside east of the 2500 block of Palmer Avenue.
Upon arrival, fire crews found a quarter acre active fire located near the base of a steep sloped canyon with challenging terrain. Fire was spreading quickly uphill into thicker vegetation. At once, firefighters promptly initiated fire attack, ordered additional resources, and identified structures at risk. Thanks to the Garfield County Sheriff Officers and the Glenwood Springs Police Department three of the closest Altitude Apartment buildings were safely evacuated. Evacuees were able to return to their homes later in the night.
Carbondale & Rural Fire Protection District, Roaring Fork Fire Rescue, and the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit responded with resources including a type 1 Black Hawk helicopter. The helicopter dropped water on the fire effectively slowing the growth of the fire enabling firefighters to complete constructing line around the fire using anchor, flank, and pinch strategy. By 10:00 pm last night, firefighters successfully constructed direct hand line around the entire fire perimeter. Firefighters monitored the fire throughout the night and resumed mop up operations at 7:30 am this morning. By 8:30 am this morning, Incident Commander Hood called the fire 100% contained with an approximate size of one and a half acres. Firefighters will continue to monitor the burn area to watch for any signs of the fire rekindling.
In response to the incident, there were a total of three type-one engines, two type-six engines, five command vehicles, one investigation vehicle, a type 1 Black Hawk helicopter, along with 23 personnel from Carbondale and Rural Fire Protection, Roaring Fork Fire Authority, and the Upper Colorado River Fire Management Unit. Additionally, the Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, Glenwood Springs Police Department responded to this incident. The Glenwood Springs Fire Department is immensely grateful for the response from these partner agencies.
Incident Commander Hood stated, “The quick deployment of air resources and immediate response and hard work from our mutual aid partners kept the fire from getting out of control.”
The Glenwood Springs Fire Marshal has declared the cause of the fire undetermined human caused in nature. Fortunately, no injuries have been reported at this time. No further information will be provided.