PINON CANYON MANEUVER SITE, Colo.—About 260 firefighters battled a 42,000-acre wildfire burning on a military training site and ranch land in southeastern Colorado on Friday.
They were getting help from calmer winds between 5 and 15 miles per hour but there was still no containment as of Friday afternoon, Fort Carson spokeswoman Karen Linne said.
Temperatures were expected to reach the high 70s with winds on Friday. Steve Segin of the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center said the break in the weather should help firefighters go on the offense against the fire, which officials believe was started by lightning.
“They’ve got a lot of work ahead of them,” Segin said.
The fire started in the Pinon Canyon Maneuver Site but spread to surrounding federal, state and private land after two straight days of strong winds. It was threatening eight ranch homes after jumping the Purgatoire River, a natural fire break.
The area is also rich with rock art and artifacts from the waves of people—American Indians, Hispanic settlers and the ancestors of many of the current ranchers—who’ve called the area home for centuries.
