Smoke in Roaring Fork Valley from Utah, Southwest Colorado amid ‘severe wildfire situations’ 

The Roaring Fork Valley was notably smoky on Thursday, prompting alerts from both Pitkin and Eagle counties. 

The source of the smoke, however, were fires in southern Utah and a fire in Colorado’s Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, according to Jake Andersen, deputy chief of operations at Aspen Fire Protection District. 

The alerts noted that southern Utah was likely the primary source, with additional fires in Chaffee and Gunnison counties.

“This is one of the more severe wildfire situations, especially at higher elevations, than we have seen in the past couple of years,” said Andersen. 

There are currently four ongoing fires in southern Utah at various sizes, ages, and levels of contaminant, ranging from a new, sub-50 acre in Deer Creek to a month-old, 35,000-acre fire in France Canyon that is currently at 90% containment, according to Utah Fire Info.

The National Parks Service confirmed that lightning strikes ignited both rims of Black Canyon of the Gunnison on Thursday morning. The park has been closed as a result, with visitors and employees evacuated. 

The air quality in Aspen at 3 p.m., Thursday was around a 54 Air Quality Index, according to the town of Aspen’s sensors. This puts it at the lower end of moderate on the scale that goes from good to moderate to unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy, very unhealthy, and hazardous. Good air quality ranges from around 1 to 50 AQI, with moderate going from 51 to 100. 

Pitkin County and Eagle counties issued a joint red flag warning on Wednesday morning to remind residents and visitors that the combination of high winds and low moisture made for dangerous fire conditions.