Up to 100 firefighters were moved to Colorado today after a week of lightning strikes ignited a dozen fires statewide, and new storm predictions in hot, dry Mesa Verde foreshadowed more wildfires.
“We moved crews down from Wyoming and South Dakota because of extreme fire danger in southwest Colorado,” said Steve Segin, spokesman for the Rocky Mountain Area Coordination Center.
Mesa Verde has been hot, dry and windy. Now a thunderstorm is headed into the area, Segin said.
“We’re getting ready,” he said.
Overnight, eight smoke jumpers were dropped at 3 a.m. near a lightning-caused wildfire that erupted about 10 miles northwest of Cañon City, Segin said.
Firefighters were using a helicopter to drop water on the 4-acre blaze named the Campton Mountain fire that is threatening power lines, he said.
The state’s biggest wildfire, the Nash Ranch fire in Park County, increased slightly to 1,115 acres, the Rocky Mountain Area Incident Management Team said today.
The fire, which started Thursday afternoon about 10 miles east of Guffey, was about 50 percent contained, said Laura McConnell, spokeswoman for the team.
The fire had forced the evacuation of about 150 homes, said Linda Balough, a Park County spokeswoman. A shed and camper trailer were lost to the blaze, she said.
About 250 firefighters, including a Rocky Mountain Area Type II Incident Management Team, swarmed into the Guffey area to battle the blaze, said Cheryl Decker, spokeswoman for that fire battle.
“More people are arriving by the hour,” she said.
Dry conditions, swirling winds and high temperatures have combined to make this year an active fire season.
A total of 86,231 acres have burned in Colorado in 2008, Segin said. Last year, only 26,535 acres were burned.
Most of the fires to date have been on the dry Eastern Plains. As the fire season progresses, more blazes are
expected in the southern Front Range, mostly in areas below 8,500 feet elevation.
The Nash Ranch fire is still confined to Park County, but it could spread into nearby Teller and Fremont counties, Balough said.
A shelter has been set up at the local school in Guffey, and livestock have been taken to the Teller County Fairgrounds in Cripple Creek.
Friday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency authorized funds to fight the Nash Ranch fire.
The authorization makes FEMA funding available to pay 75 percent of the state’s eligible firefighting costs, Balough said.
Most of the other fires in the state remained relatively small and in check Saturday.
The Miller fire in the Pike National Forest south of Buffalo Creek burned at least 6 acres Saturday.
Firefighters also battled a blaze on 15 acres near Idaho Springs north of Echo Lake.
Small fires also had burned on the Southern Ute Reservation and outside of Boulder.
Firefighters from the state and region also have been sent to help battle California blazes. About 300 firefighters and 60 engines have been deployed to fight more than 1,000 fires in that state.
Smoke from that area is wafting across the country.
Hazy skies began developing over the Denver area Friday, a direct result of the the California fires, Segin said.
Howard Pankratz and Kieran Nicholson contributed to this report.
