The fire is now burning 125,602 acres and is only 5% contained, the latest update shows. It started on October 14 and on Wednesday evening, it was burning 19,000 acres. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The fire prompted the closing of all of Rocky Mountain National Park on Thursday morning.
"If conditions allow, an Infrared flight is planned to gauge where there is current fire activity. This is a rapidly evolving situation. Currently, air quality is hazardous," the park tweeted.
The growth of the fire equates to roughly 70 football fields of forest burned every minute, according to CNN meteorologist Brandon Miller.
Incident Commander Noel Livingston said in a briefing early Thursday morning that the fire advanced about 20 miles.
It was "an amazing amount of fire spread yesterday," Livingston said.
There is a red flag warning in effect for the East Troublesome Fire throughout Thursday, with unseasonably warm temperatures and dry and windy conditions in the area, the incident overview shows.
The East Troublesome Fire is located near Grimes Peak on the Arapaho National Forest.
Grand County officials issued mandatory evacuations in response to the fire, which has intensified significantly.
"#EastTroublesomeFire continues to advance towards Grand Lake. IF YOU LIVE IN THIS AREA, EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY!! Fire has been reported as close as Columbine Lake," the National Weather Service in Boulder tweeted Wednesday night. Grand County is about 65 miles west of Boulder.
"The fire is growing faster than we can catch it right now," Fire Incident Commander Jake Winfield said Wednesday, according to CNN affiliate KCNC.
And even though nearly 300 responders are on the front lines battling the fire, weather conditions throughout Thursday will be ideal for wildfire development. High winds that have already been fanning the flames will pick up, dry conditions will continue and temperatures will be warmer than normal.
"The longer the day progresses, the worse the conditions will get," CNN meteorologist Michael Guy said. A cold front approaching the area Thursday evening will offer little relief, Guy said, and instead will be followed by wind gusts of up to 50 mph.
But a stronger front pushing south this weekend will bring some of the coldest air this season. Snow and higher humidity are forecast, which should offer some hope for containment, he added.
Fire officials are betting on snow to get a hold of the blaze, Winfield said, according to the affiliate.
"We're keeping our fingers crossed," Winfield said. "We're hoping for significant snow."
The fire's cause is still under investigation and officials say they hope to have the blaze contained by November 10.
Other Colorado fires still burning
The Calwood Fire, burning farther east in the state, has grown to more than 9,900 acres, officials said Wednesday, and is 24% contained. The fire destroyed at least 26 homes in an area that had been under evacuation orders near the town of Jamestown on Saturday, officials said earlier this week. And firefighters are also still battling the Cameron Peak Fire, Colorado's largest wildfire in state history, that is now about 55% contained.
The fires come during what has been a record-breaking fire season across the western US -- which many state leaders say was fueled by climate change. Thousands of firefighters have battled flames across the region for the past months, millions of acres have been torched and hundreds of structures destroyed.
The 61 wildfires burning across the country have scorched through nearly 4 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center. At least 17 of those fires are burning in California, with 10 in Idaho and five in Colorado. Other states that have large active blazes include Arizona, Montana, Oregon, Washington state and Wyoming.
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A growing Colorado wildfire has forced Rocky Mountain National Park to close. Weekend snow gives some hope - CNN
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