YAMPA ~ In response to the ongoing Crosho Fire in Rio Blanco and Routt Counties, Governor Polis has declared a disaster emergency this evening. The declaration was made verbally and aims to provide support for the response efforts.

The Governor has also authorized the use of the Colorado National Guard as needed to assist with the incident. He is expected to visit the Turner Gulch Command Center tomorrow (Thursday) in Western Colorado.

The Crosho Fire, which began on Monday, August 11th, has already burned an estimated 1,700 acres of land. Of this, approximately 600 acres are on state and private lands. Earlier today, Routt County issued evacuation notices for rural areas west of Yampa and west of Highway 131. This affects around 30 homes.

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The fire originated on Routt National Forest land but has since spread to private land in both Rio Blanco and Routt Counties.

With the disaster declaration in place, the State Emergency Operations and Resource Mobilization Plans have been activated. This also authorizes the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management to coordinate the state's response through managing the State Emergency Operations Center. Field operations staff will also be deployed to directly support county emergency managers with consequence management.

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