Deer Creek Fire over 15,655 acres and growing.

The Deer Creek Fire in old La Sal grew to 14,760 acres on July 16 and is seven-percent contained, as the fire is moving into Colorado.
Officials are reporting containment lines on the southern portion of the fire are continuing to hold. Additionally there are no major concerns on the west side of the fire as they continue to work on that containment line as well.
Tuesday evening structure protection groups including heavy equipment, engines, and crews, moved into Colorado due to an increase in fire activity and strong westerly winds that pushed the fire approximately two miles over the Utah-Colorado border to the T2 Road. 
Engines are staged along Colorado Highway 90 and in Paradox, Colorado, and are ready to respond to any fire activity. 
Difficult weather conditions are forecast to continue over the next several days with afternoon thunderstorms possible, producing erratic outflow winds with gusts up to 60 mph. 
Dozers and crews will continue constructing containment line to protect structures at risk. 
Unless winds become too strong, aircraft will be used in conjunction with hand crews and heavy equipment, focusing on the north and east where the fire is most active. 
Since the Deer Creek Fire started, aviation resources have dropped almost 300,000 gallons of retardant on the surrounding area, focusing on private property and critical infrastructure like the Highway 46 / 90 corridor. 
The damage assessment of primary structures within the current fire perimeter is complete and 11 private structures, a Forest Service guard station, and a communication site were damaged or destroyed in the early days of the Deer Creek Fire. Additional damage assessments are ongoing. Numbers are preliminary and further assessments are being completed by San Juan County.
San Juan County has implemented an evacuation zone map for the fire with nine areas, divided into ready, set and go phases to prepare residents for potential evacuations.
Currently zones 1-4 are in evacuation status. Zone 5 residents will be allowed back in via Stocks road with a checkpoint in place and vehicles marked for easy reentry.
Zone 6 the Mountain Shadow Subdivision, Hangdog area and Lower north highway 46 remains under evacuation orders. However Mountain Shadow residents were allowed limited entry on July 16 from 8 to 10:30 am.
Zone 7 is listed at ready status while zone 8 is at a set status.
Deer Creek’s incident meteorologist noted Friday and Saturday offer some of the first chances of wetting rain.  
The cause of the fire which started the afternoon of July 10 is still under investigation.
415 personnel are fighting the flames including six helicopters, 23 engines, five dozers and six crews.
Fire behavior has officials recommending those traveling on Highway 46 in Utah and Highway 90 in Colorado to check conditions before traveling. The public is also encouraged to turn on headlights and travel with caution through the area.
San Juan County has shared they’ve seen numerous requests from people ready to provide donations and aid.
The County shares they are not accepting direct donations at this time but are working with local leaders to identify specific needs and will share donation details as they become available.
Additionally, there have been offers of snacks for firefighters, but for safety reasons only store-bought pre-packaged items can be accepted.
Donations of money can be given to the American Red Cross Broad Support for Utah Disaster Readiness and Response Efforts.
They share while funding cannot be designated exclusively to a specific incident, all contributions will support disaster relief efforts in the region, including preparedness and response across county lines.
Those wishing to support the Red Cross’s disaster relief efforts can donate at RedCross.org/Give or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).
San Juan County shared they will provide additional donation details as they become available.