{"id":491922,"date":"2026-06-24T09:37:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:37:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coloradosun.com\/?p=491922"},"modified":"2026-06-24T09:37:43","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T15:37:43","slug":"dry-creek-fire-rifle-garfield-county-evacuations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coloradosun.com\/2026\/06\/24\/dry-creek-fire-rifle-garfield-county-evacuations\/","title":{"rendered":"Wind-driven wildfire burns two structures in Rifle, forces evacuations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A wind-driven wildfire near Rifle along the Western Slope has destroyed two structures and forced people to leave their homes as firefighters continue to battle the flames Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Dry Creek fire has burned about 315 acres, after igniting Tuesday afternoon south of Rifle, fire officials with the Colorado River Fire Rescue said. Crews worked through the night to protect threatened structures after a home and an outbuilding were lost in the fire Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evacuation orders<\/a> remain in effect Wednesday ahead of what fire officials predict will be \u201cextreme fire behavior\u201d and forecasted winds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFirefighter and public safety remain the top priority,\u201d the fire rescue said in an update Wednesday morning. \u201cCrews are utilizing a full suppression strategy with direct and indirect tactics to slow the fire\u2019s spread and construct containment lines around the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit Type Team 3 took control of managing the fire in Garfield County from local agencies at 7 a.m. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not clear what started the fire, and officials are investigating. On Tuesday, firefighters en route to the fire on Gage Road were told brush was burning and spreading toward a structure. When they arrived, crews saw a “rapidly spreading wildfire being driven by strong winds to the east and southeast,\u201d according to the Colorado River Fire Rescue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a developing story that will be updated. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dry Creek fire was estimated at 315 acres as of Wednesday morning after starting Tuesday in Garfield County<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":491923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-feature.php","format":"standard","meta":{"credibility_indicators":{"original_reporting":false,"on_the_ground":false,"sources_cited":false,"subject_specialist":false},"gigafact_has_fact_brief":false,"gigafact_remote_fact_brief_post_id":0,"gigafact_remote_sync_timestamp":"","gigafact_remote_sync_status":"","gigafact_remote_sync_response":"","gigafact_has_been_published":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":false,"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","apple_news_api_created_at":"2026-06-24T15:37:40Z","apple_news_api_id":"46af7b5a-e9eb-4f61-93c2-b5c4c6eb9088","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2026-06-24T15:37:41Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/ARq97WunrT2GTwrXExuuQiA","apple_news_cover_media_provider":"image","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_cover_video_id":0,"apple_news_cover_video_url":"","apple_news_cover_embedwebvideo_url":"","apple_news_is_hidden":"","apple_news_is_paid":"","apple_news_is_preview":"","apple_news_is_sponsored":"","apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":[],"apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"_newspack_byline_active":false,"_newspack_byline":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"newspack_content_restriction_is_exempt":false,"scaip_prevent_shortcode_addition":false,"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"The Dry Creek fire was estimated at 315 acres as of Wednesday morning after starting Tuesday in Garfield County","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,159],"tags":[3912,4849],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"type-of-work":[20869],"coauthors":[16955],"class_list":["post-491922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-wildfire","tag-garfield-county","tag-rifle","type-of-work-news","entry"],"credibility_indicators":[{"description":"This article contains firsthand information gathered by reporters. This includes directly interviewing sources and analyzing primary source documents.","label":"Original Reporting","slug":"original_reporting","icon":"<\/svg>"},{"description":"A journalist was physically present to report the article from some or all of the locations it concerns.","label":"On the Ground","slug":"on_the_ground","icon":"<\/svg>"},{"description":"This article includes a list of source material, including documents and people, so you can follow the story further.","label":"References","slug":"sources_cited","icon":"<\/g><\/svg>\n"},{"description":"The journalist and\/or newsroom have\/has a deep knowledge of the topic, location or community group covered in this article.","label":"Subject Specialist","slug":"subject_specialist","icon":"<\/svg>"}],"fact_brief":null,"apple_news_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nWind-driven wildfire burns two structures in Rifle<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n