New evacuation orders after "significant growth" on Colorado wildfire
Authorities overseeing the firefight against the week-old Willow Fire west of Leadville issued new evacuation and pre-evacuation orders Sunday morning after the blaze grew by nearly 1,000 acres in 24 hours.
Updated on: July 5, 2026 / 2:07 PM EDT / CBS Colorado
The new evacuation order includes Halfmoon Road, which provides access to popular camping areas and the trailhead to Mount Massive, the second highest peak in the state.
Saturday morning, fire crews were working to establish Halfmoon Road as a potential line to stop the fire's southward movement. That plan included deliberate controlled burns and aircraft slurry drops.
Nick Castro, one of the Southwest Area Complex Incident Management Team's operations chiefs at the helm of the Willow Fire effort, said Saturday morning the team planned to utilize the terrain's natural features to steer the southern side of the fire into higher elevations where less fuel exists.
But by Sunday morning, that hope was dashed. Halfmoon Road is now under mandatory evacuation, as is the Lake Fork Trailer Park.