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.

New mandatory evacuations were ordered in the Lee fire late Friday night and early Saturday morning as the blaze grew nearly 30,000 acres on Colorado’s Western Slope near Meeker.

The Town of Meeker is no longer under a pre-evacuation status as the state's largest wildfire continues to pose a challenge for firefighters on the ground due to hot, dry conditions in much of the western side of the state.