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Evacuation orders were already in place for mountain communities
as the Lee Fire charred more than 167 square miles (433 square
kilometers) across Garfield and Rio Blanco counties, with just
6% containment. No injuries or structural damage has been
reported.
All 179 incarcerated people were safely removed from the Rifle
Correctional Center on Saturday “out of an abundance of
caution,” the Colorado Department of Corrections said in a
statement. They were temporarily relocated about 150 miles (240
kilometers) away to the Buena Vista Correctional Complex, the
department said.
The Lee Fire, churning through trees and brush about 250 miles
(400 kilometers) west of Denver, is now the sixth-largest single
fire in the state’s history, according to the Colorado Division
of Fire Prevention and Control.
More than a thousand firefighters are battling the blaze,
working to keep the flames to the west of Colorado 13 and north
of County Road 5, officials said.
Health officials issued air quality warnings related to smoke
from the Lee Fire and the 23-square-mile (60-square-kilometer)
Elk Fire burning just to the east.
In Southern California, crews reached 62% containment on the
8-square-mile (20-square-kilometer) Canyon Fire that forced
evacuations and destroyed seven structures after breaking out
Thursday near the Los Angeles County and Ventura County line.
Three firefighters have been injured, including a battalion
chief who was seriously hurt when his pickup truck rolled over
in steep terrain.
The Gifford Fire, California's largest blaze so far this year,
has scorched at least 180 square miles (466 square kilometers)
of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties since erupting on
Aug. 1. It was 21% contained on Sunday.
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