Rio Blanco County officials lifted some mandatory evacuation and pre-evacuation orders Friday afternoon for the Elk and Lee fires burning near the Western Slope town of Meeker.

The Lee Fire burning in Western Colorado has begun racing south after winds shifted away from the town of Meeker on Friday, prompting officials to declare new evacuation zones.

After days of heating up, Colorado is finally cooling down. Bruno Rodriguez. Yeah, it's, it's been *** rough week weather-wise, is an incident meteorologist on the Lee and Elk fires. He says weather has created challenges for firefighters.