Coming off a weekend full of wildfire activity in Colorado and the American West, there’s another fire you should know about that’s prompting evacuations in the Centennial State high country.

According to the Lake County Office of Emergency Management, the Willow Fire sparked on June 28 around 4 p.m. near Leadville. As a result, a large swath of land that’s well-known among outdoor recreators has been evacuated, including Turquoise Lake. Per the latest report, the Colorado Trail in this area, along with all dispersed camping in the area of Turquoise Lake has been cleared with a large portion of Hagerman Pass included in the evacuation zone, as well. While the town of Leadville isn’t being evacuated at this time, Leadville Junction and Leadville North are both under pre-evacuation notices (subject to rapid change, find updates here).

The blaze is estimated to be one to 1.75 square miles in size at this time (about 640 to 1,120 acres) with no containment. More specifically, it’s burning just southwest of Turquoise Lake with the National Interagency Fire Center estimating its size at 1,066 acres.

Looking ahead, very dry and windy conditions are expected in the area on June 29. This could mean an increase in fire activity.

Multiple agencies are responding to control the blaze. Evacuees have been told to go to the Colorado Mountain College Leadville Gym for credentialing that will allow for re-entry into the evacuation zone once re-entry is allowed. There’s currently no estimation on when evacuations will be lifted.

Find updates here.

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