Dozens of wildfires are raging across the West, burning homes and National Forest lands and forcing the evacuations of entire towns. Low humidity, dry vegetation, and strong winds are driving the rapid growth and development of new fires throughout the central West.

Colorado Wildfires

In southern Colorado, the Aspen Acres Fire ignited Monday morning, and just hours later, had exploded to more than 23,000 acres, prompting evacuations of thousands in two counties. Sixteen wildfires were burning across Colorado as of Monday night, according to Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.

Polis declared a disaster emergency Saturday in Mesa County in response to the deadly Snyder Fire, which had reached more than 30,000 acres Monday night. Polis also authorized the state’s National Guard to support response efforts.

Utah Wildfires

In neighboring Utah, severe fire conditions drove the National Weather Service office in Salt Lake City to issue its first-ever “particularly dangerous situation” red flag warning for central and southern parts of the state. Now, twelve fires encompassing nearly 300,000 acres are burning across the state.

The Cottonwood Fire in southern Utah had grown to nearly 100,000 acres as of Monday night, an area bigger than Salt Lake City. It is only 4% contained, according to InciWeb data. Evacuations remain in place for the blaze, which officials say is likely the most destructive and expensive in state history.

Original reporting: El Paso News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.