A fast and furious fire in Moffat County closed down Highway 40 and prompted evacuations on Thursday. According to the Bureau of Land Management, the Winter Valley Fire has rapidly grown to 5,200 acres and is actively burning on Cross Mountain. A type 3 team is managing the fire. Strong winds up to 50 miles per hour were to blame for the rapid spread of the blaze as the fire grew from 500 acres to 2,180 acres within 30-minutes on Thursday. Highway 40 was closed in both directions from Maybell west to Elk Springs and mandatory evacuations were put in place for residents and hunters in the area. As of
Thursday night
, 25 to 30 residences were threatened as well as oil and gas structures, a communications tower, and a Federal Aviation Administration tower. Colorado Wildfire Information reports that the area was put on warning of potential power outages should firefighters have to cut power lines. The fire started about
noon on Thursday
.
