Five active wildfires — the Lee, Elk, Oak, Stoner Mesa and Crosho fires — have charred more than 143,000 acres, or 222 square miles, on the Western Slope in recent days.

When a 60,000-acre wildfire is breathing down the neck of a small northwestern Colorado town, the locals don’t freeze. The follow their first instinct — to jump into action to protect

Four fires burning on Colorado’s Western Slope have spread to more than 31,000 acres and forced ongoing evacuations, fire officials said Wednesday.