Elk Fire

Hinsdale County, Colorado · Wildfire

Started inside the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests boundary.

No longer active Official numbers updated Oct 1, 2026 (16 days ago)

First reported about 3 months ago

Metric	Last report	Now	Change
Size	7,281 acres Aug 19, 7:01 PM	7,257 acres Oct 17, 8:00 AM −24 acres was 7,281 acres · Aug 19, 7:01 PM	−24 acres in about 2 months
Containment	73% Oct 1, 2:00 PM	90% Oct 17, 8:00 AM +17 percent was 73% · Oct 1, 2:00 PM	+17 percent in 16 days
Crew size	10 Sep 25, 3:00 PM	7 Oct 17, 8:00 AM −3 was 10 · Sep 25, 3:00 PM	−3 in 22 days
Money spent	$28.8M Sep 3, 4:00 PM	$28.8M Oct 17, 8:00 AM +$70,994 was $28.8M · Sep 3, 4:00 PM	+$70,994 in about 1 month

Elk Fire summary

The Elk Fire is a wildfire near Hinsdale County, Colorado. It has burned about 7,257 acres (about 5,000 football fields). Crews have boxed in 90% of its edge; the other 10% isn't contained yet. It was first reported about 3 months ago. About 7 people are on it, run by a Type 4 IC.

Size: 7,257 acres
Containment: 90%
Discovered: July 9, 2026 (first reported about 3 months ago)
Cause: Not reported

The size and containment above are current as of Thursday, October 15th at 2:00 p.m. CDT.

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Weather & fire-spread conditions

No Red Flag Warning. The National Weather Service hasn't flagged this area for dangerous fire-spread conditions right now.

Hot, dry, and windy weather can help a fire grow; cool, calm, or wet weather helps crews. The tags below rate each day for fire spread — green is calm, red can push a fire.

A general fire-weather guide (wind matters most, then how dry it is, then heat), not a prediction of what a specific fire will do.

	Day	Night
This Afternoon	37°F · Sunny Wind 5 to 10 mph NE · 3% rain Wind: Breezy Heat: Cool Dry	20°F · Mostly Clear Wind 5 mph E · 0% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry
Friday	45°F · Sunny Wind 0 to 5 mph E · 0% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry	26°F · Mostly Clear Wind 5 mph SW · 0% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry
Saturday	47°F · Sunny Wind 0 to 5 mph W · 0% rain Wind: Calm Heat: Cool Dry	—

Forecast from the National Weather Service (weather.gov), pulled Thursday, October 15th at 2:01 p.m. CDT.

Could this fire move fast?

Weather isn't the only thing that changes how a fire moves. The ground matters too: how steep it is, and what's growing on it. These four numbers are for the exact spot where this fire started, not the whole fire. A big fire crosses a lot of different ground.

30° slope

Fire usually moves faster uphill than downhill. Heat and flame lean uphill, drying out the ground above the fire before it gets there.

Trees with brush underneath (TU5)

Heavy forest litter with shrubs or small trees underneath, in a dry climate. Fire moves at a moderate pace, with medium-height flames.

55% tree canopy cover

The more tree cover above a fire, the easier it is for the fire to climb from the ground into the treetops. That's called a crown fire. Crown fires move faster, throw embers farther ahead of the fire, and are harder for crews to stop head-on.

11,496 ft elevation

Elevation by itself doesn't make a fire more or less dangerous. But it shapes the other three numbers here: what grows there, how dry things get, and what the weather does.

Elevation and slope from the USGS 3D Elevation Program; fuel type and canopy cover from LANDFIRE (USGS and U.S. Forest Service), pulled Thursday, September 10th at 3:38 p.m. CDT.

Who's on it

About 7 people are assigned to this fire, run by a Type 4 IC. The government rates it a Type 4 Incident. About $29 million has been spent on it so far.

The official feed reports the total headcount, not a breakdown by crew type.

Where to get live updates

We show the daily official picture. For minute-by-minute updates, evacuation orders, and maps, these do it best:

→ Watch Duty: real-time fire reporting and evacuations.
→ InciWeb: the government's official fire information site.

Nearby fires to Elk Fire

No other active fires are near this one right now. It's on its own.

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