Overview
- Fire managers report the Willow Fire now covers roughly 4,143 acres with about 1% containment after fast overnight growth that added roughly 900 acres.
- Local officials expanded mandatory evacuations to include Halfmoon Road and Zone 6A and placed multiple nearby areas into pre-evacuation status.
- Crews are protecting structures with pumps and hoses, building heavy-equipment firelines, conducting controlled firing operations, and using helicopters for daily bucket drops.
- Incident meteorologists warn of dry thunderstorms and gusty, erratic winds while fuels in the high-elevation lodgepole and mixed-conifer forest remain at record low moisture levels.
- Authorities have widened a Temporary Flight Restriction, banned drone use, closed Leadville Regional Airport to non-emergency flights, opened shelters, and urged residents to follow Lake County OEM updates for changing evacuation maps.