Elbert County – Authorities said a fast-spreading 800-acre wildfire forced the evacuation of about 50 homes today in rural Elbert County, about 25 miles southeast of Denver.
Sheriff Bill Frangis said deputies were going door-to-door warning residents to leave. It was not immediately known how many people were evacuated.
“It’s doubling in size every two hours,” Frangis said. One firefighter suffered a heat-related injury, and one horse was singed, he said.
Homes dot the rolling grassland and ponderosa groves on 35- to 60-acre lots. Eleven fire departments from two counties were battling the wind-driven fire.
Two air tankers were dropping retardant on the fire, said Larry Helmerick of the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center.
In southwestern Colorado, hotshot crews and other firefighters battled two blazes near Mesa Verde National Park as temperatures reached 100 degrees.
Fire managers braced for new outbreaks with thunderstorms and gusty winds in the forecast.
Fire information officer Jen Chase said trees were so dry in that corner of the state that the probability of a fire igniting from any lightning strike was 100 percent, and any new fires were likely to spread quickly.
A 193-acre, lightning-caused fire on the Ute Mountain Ute Indian reservation was 40 percent contained. A second blaze on the reservation, covering 2,318 acres, was 75 percent contained.
Crews used “light on the land” tactics, dropping retardant from the air to avoid damaging any fragile artifacts with bulldozers.
Archaeological treasures on the reservation rival those at Mesa Verde, said Tom Rice, the tribe’s resource adviser. They include cliff dwellings dating from the Puebloan period, petroglyphs, stone tools, pottery and other artifacts A total of 408 firefighters and three helicopters were working on both fires. Archaeologists were on hand to help preserve artifacts.
A fire near Norwood, also in southwestern Colorado, grew from 500 to 580 acres Tuesday, but it was 75 percent contained. The fire was started by lightning on Friday. Almost 160 firefighters and four helicopter were on the lines.
Four other Colorado blazes totaling about 4,400 acres were considered “ecological restoration” fires benefiting the environment.
