JACKSON COUNTY, Colorado — The Mullen Fire that has crossed into the Centennial State from Wyoming has grown to 151,711 acres, making it larger than the biggest wildfire in Colorado’s history.
The fire has been stoked by high winds and continuing warm temperatures, causing it to balloon in size over the weekend. As of this writing, it has burned roughly 237 square miles of land in the Medicine Bow Mountains west of Laramie, Wyoming and north of Walden, Colorado.
As of Tuesday afternoon, 14% of the Mullen Fire’s perimeter has been contained since it started burning on Sept. 17. The estimated date of final containment is on Oct. 30, according to InciWeb.
More than 1,100 firefighters are battling the blaze, which has led to evacuations in Colorado and Wyoming.
It is now larger than the Pine Gulch Fire, which burned 139,007 acres on the Western Slope of Colorado this summer, making it the largest in the state’s history.
The Cameron Peak Fire, which is burning in the Roosevelt National Forest southeast of the Mullen Fire, has grown to 127,398 acres, with increased fire activity expected in the coming days.
No new evacuations were ordered due to the Mullen Fire over the weekend. Three-way and north on Highway 125 and 127 in Jackson County continue to be under a mandatory evacuation, along with the east side of Jackson County Road 8 along the eastern Range north to the Sand Dunes.
The areas of Roach and Hohnholz in the northwestern part of Larimer County along County Road 103 are also under a mandatory evacuation. U.S. Forest Service land in the area is also closed.
The National Weather Service in Boulder has issued an air quality alert for much of the Front Range as smoke from the Mullen, Cameron Peak and Middle Fork Fires drift along the mountains.
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