A slowly growing, nearly contained wildfire burning on Colorado’s Western Slope is now the fourth-largest on state record, according to fire officials.

As of Monday night, the 90% contained Lee fire had scorched 138,844 acres between Meeker and Rifle. It grew by 1,086 acres on Monday, after multiple days with minimal to no growth.

The new acres consumed by the Lee fire bumped the wildfire from fifth-largest to fourth-largest in Colorado history, passing the 137,760-acre Hayman fire that sparked in 2002, according to the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control.

The Lee fire is now less than 200 acres away from becoming the third-largest wildfire on state record. Currently, that ranking belongs to the 2020 Pine Gulch fire that burned 139,007 acres.

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