Three fires burning on Colorado’s western slope have spread to more than 22,000 acres and forced ongoing evacuations, fire officials said Wednesday.

A wildfire that started in northwest Colorado on Saturday afternoon has now burned around 4,000 acres. Evacuations and closures have been put in place near two of the fires burning to the south of Meeker.

All evacuations for the wildfire, named the Coulter Creek Fire, were lifted around 5 p.m. Sunday. Earlier in the day, the sheriff's office said residents in the Panorama Subdivision, the area east of County Road 100 to Upper Cattle Creek Road and the Ranch at Coulter Creek were to immediately evacuate.

The lightning-sparked Elk fire southeast of Meeker in Rio Blanco County started just after noon Saturday and more than quadrupled in size throughout the evening, jumping a county road and