Second wildfire in northern Colorado forces more evacuations, including parts of Lyons (2024)

Find the latest on this fire | Live updates: 3 wildfires burning in the foothills north and west of Denver

A second wildfire in northern Colorado fueled by high winds and low humidity ignited Tuesday in the foothills north of Lyons and forced evacuations in the Boulder County town.

Crews fighting the first fire west of Loveland were quick to help, the Boulder County sheriff said Tuesday afternoon.

The Stone Canyon fire was burning about 1,320 acres as of 9 p.m. Tuesday and evacuations were growing, including parts of the town of Lyons. At least two structures have burned.

Air resources from the Alexander Mountain fire burning to the north in Larimer County were quickly diverted Tuesday to help after the Stone Canyon fire started around 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Boulder County Sheriff Curtis Johnson said.

“We were fortunate to get air resources today because of the Alexander Mountain fire. We’re doing everything we can to get everybody we need here to fight this fire,” said Johnson, who added he had been “on pins and needles” since the Alexander Mountain fire started Monday west of Loveland.

“Our friends from Larimer County came down to help us. We were in Larimer County yesterday helping them evacuate neighborhoods. As that fire stabilized a little bit they were able to send help to us. We worked really closely together and communicated well so we were able to get some Larimer County folks down here to help us evacuate the neighborhoods being directly impacted by the fire.”

A cause has not been released.

Officials are continuing to evacuate homes to the north and east of the fire, which is approaching the Larimer County line just outside of Lyons, as well as in Lyons. The sheriff said the fire has jumped some roads. The area between Lyons and Masonville, which is west of Loveland, has mandatory evacuations.

Preliminary reports say two structures have burned, according to a 6:15 p.m. update. Video footage shot by a Denver TV news helicopter shows at least one structure and cars on fire.

“Our focus right now is trying to slow the fire down, protect other structures and make sure people are safe,” Johnson said.

He said the weather is not going to change and conditions are about as bad as they can be to fight this fire, he said.

“It’s going to take us days to really manage it,” he said. “The fire has been jumping around a little bit.”

Tuesday evening, parts of the town of Lyons were under evacuation orders, including areas north of Broadway and east of 5th Avenue. Also, residents in the areas of Eagle Ridge, Blue Mountain and Spring Valley are under orders to leave home. Evacuations were also ordered for parts of southern Larimer County.

Updates about evacuation orders are available at BoulderODM.gov.

The state’s multimission aircraft left the Alexander Mountain fire and was diverted to the Stone Canyon fire, Tracy LeClair, a spokesperson with the state fire division said. A Tanker 10, which can drop 9,400 gallons of fire retardant within 8 seconds, and single-engine air tankers were also en route.

Fire trucks and wildland vehicles are on scene and more resources are on the way, officials said.

A resource center has opened at the Boulder County Fairgrounds. The fairgrounds is at capacity for animals, and they can now be taken to the Jefferson County Fairgrounds in Golden, Boulder County officials said at 5:45 p.m.

The following roads were closed:

• U.S. 36 is closed at the entrance of Lyons
• All roads north of the intersection of Blue Mountain Road and U.S. 36, including connecting roads
• All roads north of Steamboat Valley Road and the 5th Avenue intersection
• All roads north of Ute Highway, aka Colorado 66, and the intersections of North 53rd Street and North 55th Street

Officials issued a red flag warning for Boulder County on Tuesday for winds forecast between 15 mph to 20 mph and gusts up to 30 mph. Extremely dry conditions, with relative humidity forecast at 11%, also created critical fire danger, meteorologists warned.

“There’s no time for burning, let’s just be honest, no burning at all today,” Vinnie Montez, a spokesperson with the sheriff’s office, said in a video posted on social media. “It’s really important, we have an active fire and a lot of the resources are up in Larimer County right now so just make sure you are paying attention to your surroundings.”

The Alexander Mountain fire started Monday morning west of Loveland and by Tuesday afternoon was more than 3,500 acres, prompting multiple evacuation orders.

Temperatures along the northern Front Range are near 100 degrees Tuesday, winds are gusting over 25 mph and the humidity is below 10%.