Wildfire in western Routt County grows to 2,089 acres overnight Monday

Firefighters are expecting another long day at the scene of a wildfire in West Routt County that continued to grow rapidly overnight.

Aircraft reported Tuesday morning the Deep Creek Fire had consumed 2,089 acres.

“It made a huge run with downhill, downvalley winds,” Regional Fire Management Officer Sam Parsons said.

Routt County Emergency Management Director David “Mo” DeMorat said only the Wolf Mountain Ranch on Routt County Road 52 had to be evacuated due to the Deep Creek Fire on Monday.

About 42 residences within a five-mile radius of the blaze have been told to be ready to evacuate.

“The plan for today is to continue on the structure protection, continue on the indirect attack using the aircraft,” DeMorat said.

The fire, which is burning north of U.S. Highway 40 between Milner and Hayden near Wolf Mountain, exploded from 2 acres to 419 acres Monday afternoon.

Steamboat residents awoke to find ash on their windshields and the valley socked in smoke.

DeMorat said an incident command post has been established at the Routt County Fairgrounds in Hayden.

Control of the fire, which is burning on Bureau of Land Management land, is being handed over to the state.

The emergency management director is expected to brief Routt County Commissioners about the status of the fire later this morning.