Colorado
Colorado wildfires: Western Slope fires scorch more than 22,000 acres
Four fires burning on Colorado’s western slope have spread to more than 22,000 acres and forced ongoing evacuations, fire officials said Wednesday.
Disaster declarations have been issued for two of the wildfires actively burning with no containment: the Leroux fire burning near Hotchkiss in Delta County and the Elk fire burning near Meeker in Rio Blanco County.
Lightning sparked three of the fires over the weekend, and the flames rapidly grew in the Western Slope’s dry vegetation, exacerbated by windy, hot and dry weather, officials said.
Multiple Colorado and federal recreation areas remain closed Wednesday, including Oak Ridge, Rio Blanco, Colorow Mountain and Piceance state wildlife areas and parts of the White River National Forest and San Juan National Forest.
Jump to: Lee fire | Elk fire | Leroux fire | Stoner Mesa fire
The Lee fire southwest of Meeker
A wildfire burning in Rio Blanco County has scorched more than 14,000 acres, fire officials said Tuesday.
The Lee fire, which has since absorbed the Grease fire that also started near Meeker, was last mapped at 14,426 acres, fire officials said.
Meeker is about 70 miles northwest of Glenwood Springs and 40 miles north of Interstate 70.
Afternoon winds fueled the fire, pushing the flames up to Colorado 13, fire officials said in a Tuesday evening update. The fire has not yet crossed the highway.
Incident managers are “evaluating the direction and rates of fire spread” to determine if additional evacuations need to be issued, according to the update.
As of Wednesday morning, the evacuation area was bordered to the east by Colorado 13 and the Grand Hogback, the north by Colorado 64, the west by Rio Blanco County Road 5 and the south by Bald Knob Mountain, Fourteenmile Creek and County Road 22, according to the evacuation map.
Multiple areas north and east of the current evacuation zones are on pre-evacuation status, according to the map.
The Elk fire east of Meeker
A second wildfire burning just miles away from the Lee fire, on the other side of Meeker, had consumed nearly 7,800 acres as of Tuesday, according to fire officials.
The lightning-sparked Elk fire is burning on roughly 7,751 acres of land with no containment, fire officials said Tuesday. It has destroyed at least two homes and one outbuilding since it started Saturday afternoon.
Officials said 130 fire personnel were fighting the wildfire Tuesday evening.
“Conditions are conducive to large fire growth, with all key factors for extreme fire behavior,” fire officials said in a Tuesday evening update.
Hot and dry conditions continue to fuel the fires on either side of Meeker, with red flag warnings scheduled from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, according to the National Weather Service.
The alert warns of low humidity between 8% and 13%, gusty winds up to 35 mph, and more.
“Fires will catch and spread quickly,” forecasters stated in the warning.
The weather and the area’s steep slopes, wind-exposed mesa and flammable vegetation “promote rapid fire spread,” officials said. Several months of above-average temperatures, below-average precipitation and ongoing drought leading up to the fire have “severely stressed the ecosystem.”
Evacuations remain in place Wednesday.
The evacuation zone is bordered to the south by White River, the west by the Flat Tops Trail Scenic Byway, the north by County Road 14 and the east by Big Lick Reservoir, according to Rio Blanco County’s emergency map. Multiple other areas remain under pre-evacuation orders.
The Leroux fire in Delta County
Evacuations remain in place for the Leroux fire, which is burning about just over a mile east of Redlands Mesa in Delta County.
The 179-acre fire had “reduced fire behavior” Tuesday compared to Monday, but crews have not reported any containment, according to Delta County emergency officials.
Smoke was reported near Oak Mesa outside of Hotchkiss, which is about 20 miles east of Delta, at about 2:30 p.m. Sunday. Evacuation orders were first issued early Monday morning as the fire began to rapidly grow, officials said.
As of Wednesday, the evacuated area included 3100 Road north of Oak Mesa Road, the 7X Ranch, residents along 3100 Road between the Leroux Creek bridge and the U.S. Forest Service Boundary and campers between Forest Service Road 128 and Bailey Reservoir.
The Stoner Mesa fire in Montezuma County
Part of the San Juan National Forest was evacuated Tuesday when a wildfire sparked amid the trees.
The Stoner Mesa fire was estimated to be roughly 250 to 300 acres Tuesday night. Fire officials are awaiting infrared mapping to determine its exact size, U.S. Forest Service officials said Wednesday morning.
Officials said the fire is burning about 20 miles northeast of Dolores, a town in Montezuma County about 45 miles northwest of Durango.
Dolores County officials issued evacuation orders for part of the San Juan National Forest on Stoner and Taylor Mesa. Evacuations include:
- Stoner Mesa Road, also known as Forest Service Road 686;
- Taylor Mesa Road, also known as Forest Service Road 545;
- All roads branching off the two Forest Service Roads;
- Mavreeso Campground;
- Burro Bridge Campground;
- And West Dolores Campground.
As of Tuesday evening, the wildfire was “still actively burning and demonstrating extreme fire behavior,” U.S. Forest Service officials said.
The cause of the fire is unknown, and no containment had been reported Wednesday.
An aerial video posted by the Forest Service shows a large column of smoke emerging from an area of dense trees. Flames are visible on the forest floor.
Residents can view the updated evacuation map online.
Get more Colorado news by signing up for our Mile High Roundup email newsletter.
Originally Published:
Colorado
Colorado mother says Lakewood crash killed son, left 2 of her children critically injured as driver is arrested
A mother is grieving after a crash in the Denver metro area last weekend left her son brain-dead and two of her other children fighting for their lives.
Lakewood police say 22-year-old Andrew Logan Miller has been arrested in connection with the crash, which happened Dec. 6 around 7:30 p.m. near Kipling Parkway and West 6th Avenue.
Police say Miller was driving an SUV southbound on Kipling Parkway at a high rate of speed when it collided with a bus carrying a wrestling team from Central High School, which is located in Grand Junction in Mesa County.
Sixteen people were taken to hospitals.
Among the injured were three siblings who were riding inside the SUV.
On Friday, their mother, Suleyma Gonzalez, identified them as Julio Gonzalez, 18, Analelly Gonzalez, 17, and Christopher Gonzalez, 14.
Analelly and Christopher remain in critical condition. Julio will never wake up.
“I didn’t want to believe it, until they had to do the second testing where they didn’t find blood going through his brain,” she said. “My other two are in comas.”
Gonzalez said doctors ultimately declared Julio brain-dead.
She describes her children as disciplined students and ROTC members with plans for the future.
“Two of my kids were going to graduate this year,” she said. “No drugs. No alcohol. They were good kids.”
Gonzalez confirmed that Miller, who was driving the SUV at the time of the crash, was her daughter’s boyfriend.
“I know he loved my daughter,” she said. “I don’t think he did this on purpose or intentionally. It was an accident.”
Police say the investigation is ongoing, but believe speed played a major role in the crash.
Miller was arrested Wednesday night and is facing multiple charges, including:
• Vehicular assault (7 counts)
• Speeding 40 mph or more over the limit
• Reckless driving
• Child abuse (2 counts)
• Reckless endangerment
“My kids know when you get in somebody’s car, there’s always a risk. Always,” she said.
Julio’s organs will be donated. He’s on life support, while the hospital searches for matches.
“He wanted to give to the world,” she said. “Now that I can’t get him back, we want to give life to somebody else.”
Miller is currently being held in the Denver County Jail and is awaiting transfer to the Jefferson County Jail. His bond and court appearance have not yet been announced.
Lakewood police say the investigation remains active.
Gonzalez, a single mother of five, says her focus now is on her surviving children and getting clarity.
“I just want answers.”
Colorado
DOJ sues Colorado Secretary of State for failure to release state voter information
DENVER, Colo. (KKTV) – The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division announced Thursday a lawsuit against the Colorado Secretary of State for failure to produce state voter information.
Secretary of State Jena Griswold claims the DOJ sent a “broad” request for the voter registration rolls on May 12.
Griswold says her office complied with the request and “shared the publicly available data consistent with applicable law.” However, the lawsuit against Griswold says that her office did not respond to the letter.
Griswold sent a letter in November signed by several Secretaries of State to the DOJ and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requesting clarification on how the data would be used, but she claims neither replied to the questions in the letter.
The lawsuit goes on to allege that DOJ attorney Eric Neff followed up by emailing Secretary Griswold on Dec. 1, requesting Colorado’s Statewide Voter Registration list.
Griswold said this request asked the office to share unredacted voter data, including a voter’s full name, date of birth, residential address, and complete state driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number.
Griswold responded by email on Dec. 3, stating, “We received your request. We will not be producing unredacted voter files or signing the MOU,” the complaint alleges.
The lawsuit cites the Civil Rights Act, which gives the United States Attorney General the power to demand the production, inspection, and analysis of the statewide voter registration lists.
The DOJ is requesting a judge to declare that Griswold violated the Civil Rights Act and to order her to provide the current electronic copy of Colorado’s statewide voter registration list.
Griswold’s office released the following statement:
The DOJ released the following statement regarding the lawsuit:
Copyright 2025 KKTV. All rights reserved.
Colorado
Toyota Game Recap: 12/11/2025 | Colorado Avalanche
ColoradoAvalanche.com is the official Web site of the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado Avalanche and ColoradoAvalanche.com are trademarks of Colorado Avalanche, LLC. NHL, the NHL Shield, the word mark and image of the Stanley Cup and NHL Conference logos are registered trademarks of the National Hockey League. All NHL logos and marks and NHL team logos and marks as well as all other proprietary materials depicted herein are the property of the NHL and the respective NHL teams and may not be reproduced without the prior written consent of NHL Enterprises, L.P. Copyright © 1999-2025 Colorado Avalanche Hockey Team, Inc. and the National Hockey League. All Rights Reserved. NHL Stadium Series name and logo are trademarks of the National Hockey League.
-
Alaska7 days agoHowling Mat-Su winds leave thousands without power
-
Texas7 days agoTexas Tech football vs BYU live updates, start time, TV channel for Big 12 title
-
Ohio1 week ago
Who do the Ohio State Buckeyes hire as the next offensive coordinator?
-
Washington4 days agoLIVE UPDATES: Mudslide, road closures across Western Washington
-
Iowa6 days agoMatt Campbell reportedly bringing longtime Iowa State staffer to Penn State as 1st hire
-
Miami, FL6 days agoUrban Meyer, Brady Quinn get in heated exchange during Alabama, Notre Dame, Miami CFP discussion
-
Cleveland, OH6 days agoMan shot, killed at downtown Cleveland nightclub: EMS
-
World5 days ago
Chiefs’ offensive line woes deepen as Wanya Morris exits with knee injury against Texans
