All 179 inmates at Rifle Correctional Center have been evacuated after concerns over the nearby Lee Fire in Rio Blanco, the Colorado Department of Corrections (CDOC) said. The inmates were relocated around 10:30 p.

RIFLE, Colo. — A wildfire in Rio Blanco County is forcing the evacuation of a prison north of Rifle. The Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) said it has successfully evacuated 179 inmates from the Rifle Correctional Center in response to the Lee Fire, which has scorched 106,672 acres and is 6% contained as of Sunday afternoon.

A Colorado prison was evacuated because of a fast-growing wildfire that’s already one of the largest in state history, officials said. The spread of the Lee Fire in western Colorado forced the relocation of 179 incarcerated people at the Rifle Correctional Center to the Buena Vista Correctional Complex on Aug.