A fire-fueled thunderstorm cloud can form on top of a wildfire’s smoke plume, allowing the plume to grow vertically very quickly, Neil Lareau, a scientist and professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, told the Sacramento Bee in 2018.

The nearly 13,000-acre wildfire burning in eastern Utah crossed the Colorado border Monday night, joining four other fires already burning on the Western Slope, fire officials said.

The Deer Creek fire burning in San Juan County is now 7% contained and has burnt about 12,906 acres, according to the latest information posted by the Utah Department of

Crews are fighting five western slope blazes, including one at the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. See the latest map of the Colorado fires.

The wildfire season in Utah has been particularly active, with over 71,000 acres burned this year, just 20,000 acres short of what burned all of last year, FOX 13 reported.

Heavy winds that swept through Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park on Sunday night started “rapid fire spread” after a relatively slow day of growth, according to fire officials.

The fires varied in size but have already forced several evacuations and pre-evacuation notices, closed a national park, and the Deer Creek Fire near the Utah state line has already destroyed at least five buildings.

The 8,140-acre Turner Gulch Fire is currently the largest burning in Colorado, but the nearly 15,000-acre Deer Creek Fire in Utah crossed the state border Monday. Officials anticipate more dangerous fire activity ahead.

A large vortex or "firenado" formed over the Deer Creek Fire in San Juan County, Utah over the weekend, officials said. Dramatic footage from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) showed flames from the fire being sucked up into a dense, swirling cloud of black smoke.