DENVER — 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.

The wildfire is one of at least a dozen others burning across the Western Slope, which is under a red flag warning through 8 p.m. Friday. As of Friday morning, more than 130,000 acres of land had been scorched across Delta, Dolores, Garfield, Grand, Mesa, Moffat, Montrose, and Rio Blanco counties.

A sizeable portion of the Western Slope is under extreme drought conditions, with a large swath of the western half of the state experiencing moderate and severe drought, according to the latest data from the U.S. Drought Monitor .

No lives have been lost, but

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