Overview

• As of Monday night, the blaze between Meeker and Rifle stood at 138,844 acres after a 1,086-acre uptick.
• The fire is now less than 200 acres short of the 2020 Pine Gulch total of 139,007 acres.
• Officials have lifted all mandatory evacuations, with some areas downgraded to monitoring, after earlier destruction of at least five homes and 14 outbuildings.
• More than 1,100 personnel with aircraft, hand crews, engines and heavy equipment remain assigned under the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team.
• Sparked by lightning on Aug. 2 on BLM land, the blaze grew over 100,000 acres in eight days under extreme drought and red-flag winds, and forecast storms bring helpful moisture alongside risks of gusts, lightning and flash flooding.