OURAY COUNTY, Colo. – Residents living between Simms Mesa Road, Government Springs Road and Wild Cat Canyon in Ouray County must evacuate immediately after a wildfire started in the area Thursday afternoon.
The evacuation area is a 5-mile radius of the pin on the map below, according to the Ouray County Sheriff's Office.
A Red Cross evacuation center has been established at Ridgway Secondary School, located at 1200 Green Street in Ridgeway.
The fire, which has been named the Simms Fire, was first reported at 4:25 p.m Thursday. Its cause is under investigation.
As of 7:54 p.m., the fire is 370 acres.
It is burning in pinyon/juniper, Gambel oak brush and grassland on the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and private land roughly 15 miles southwest of Montrose, according to the Forest Service. It is burning in Ouray and Montrose counties.
The Forest Service is managing the Simms Fire as a full-suppression fire, the department said in an update Thursday.
Multiple agencies are responding to the fire, but the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office did not release information about how many agencies are currently assisting firefighting efforts.
The sheriff’s office asked that residents follow them on their Facebook page for updates and urged them not to call 9-1-1.
