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Derby fire in Eagle County surpasses 3,000 acres charred as rain showers are forecast

By August 22, 2025 | updated 3 months ago

Derby fire in White River NF
The Derby fire in the White River National Forest north of Dotsero, Colorado has burned around 245 acres as of Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025.
Courtesy, National Forest Service

The Derby fire, spanning across land in both Eagle and Garfield counties and located about 13 miles north of Doterso, Colorado, grew to approximately 3,569 acres by Friday morning, as reported by Inciweb — adding almost another 1,000 acres to the total burned.

The fire is still 0% contained and at 211 personnel are currently in place battling the wildfire in rough and steep terrain near Derby Mesa.

According to Northern Rockies Complex Incident Management Team 3, aircraft dropped water and fire retardant along the Derby Fire’s western flank on Thursday.

Firefighters built dozer lines along the fire’s southern perimeter, then worked overnight to secure it. Structure protection on over 200 structures has been completed as well.

Fire team officials said the fire is expanding slowly because it is mostly driven by fuels and not wind.

“Fire managers are being vigilant in their preparations for thunderstorm outflow winds that could push fire south into the Sweetwater Creek drainage,” officials said Friday in their daily upate. “Fire managers have already worked to complete structure protection for over 200 structures along Sweetwater Rd. to Red Dirt Creek by positioning sprinkler kits and removing surrounding fuels.”

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Courtesy, National Forest Service

On Thursday, fire officials said firefighters established dozer lines along the fire’s southern perimeter, then worked to secure it overnight.

Aircraft supported ground crews by dropping water and fire retardant along the fire’s west flank to slow its expansion toward Sweetwater Rd., buying time for firefighters to secure and connect containment lines.

Weather heading into the weekend looks promising to help ease the spread, but the trend of hot and dry weather continues to make subalpine fuels very receptive to fire spread, fire officials said.

“The weekend is likely to bring cooler temperatures and increased chances of monsoonal precipitation,” officials said. “Daytime smoke and nighttime glows from the fire may be visible.”

The closure is within the Blanco and Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger Districts, starting north of Sweetwater Lake, following the Forest boundary north and east to the intersection of the Derby Loop Road (Eagle County Road 39); following Middle Derby Creek generally northwest to Island Lakes; then, generally south following the Island Lakes Trail, the W Mountain Trail, the Turret-Crescent Trail  and the Turret Creek Trail back to Sweetwater Lake.

Eagle County has issued an evacuation notice for residents of Sweetwater Rd. and areas of the Colorado River Rd. from Sweetwater to Red Dirt Creek. Derby Mesa Loop remains in pre-evacuation status. More evacuation information is available at www.ecemergency.org, including where to shelter and resources for pets and livestock. 

(Contact Denver Gazette Digital Strategist Jonathan Ingraham at jonathan.ingraham@denvergazette.com or on X at @Skingraham.)

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