A fast-moving wildfire burning along the Royal Gorge and U.S. 50 west of Cañon City forced the evacuation of homes, businesses, campgrounds and parks — including Royal Gorge — today.
Andrea Cooper, spokeswoman for the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, said that the fires are spread out along a stretch of railroad tracks west of the southcentral Colorado town.
Initially reported shortly before 2 p.m. on Monday,the fire started southwest of the intersection of U.S. 50 and Colo. Highway 9, said Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman Cass Cairns.
By this evening, winds had pushed the fire northeast across nearly 700 acres. The blaze is being fought by about 50 firefighters and a small fleet of retardant-dropping aircraft, Cairns said.
These include one large air tanker, a single engine plane, a large helicopter and a smaller helicopter.
Cairns said that one fixed-winged aircraft is also being ordered for aerial supervision of the other aircraft assigned to the fire.
As winds fanned the fire, U.S. 50 was closed six miles west of Cañon City because of smoke and low visibility. Smoke from the Parkdale fire could be seen and smelled in Colorado Springs.
Evacuations began along County Road 61 Monday afternoon and extended to all of Royal Gorge Park, Buckskin Joe, businesses along County Road 3A and 8 Mile Hill as well as 5 miles north of U.S. 50 on Highway 9.
“Anybody whether they’re businesses, whether they’re residences, camping or anything else, everybody has been evacuated from the area,” Cairns said.
Cairns said “multiple structures” are being threatened by the fires which are all on BLM land.
At this point, said Cairns, the cause of the fires is unknown.
Mike Bandera, general manager of the Royal Gorge Bridge, said the fires have led to the evacuation of homes in the area.
Bandera said that the historic bridge is not threatened.
Bandera said the fires are burning in juniper and piñon trees.
As of now, it is within several hundred yards of homes in an area known as Parkdale, said Bandera.
Bandera said he first saw the flames about 1:30 p.m. He said he could see flames jumping as high as 20 feet into the air.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for the region, meaning that if wildfires start they are likely to spread.
Overnight firefighters will continue to monitor the blaze, Cairns said, and fight the fire depending on the direction the fire is headed, how active it is and on firefighter safety, she said.
On the Western Slope a 170 acre blaze is burning on the Roan Plateau located 10 miles northwest of Rifle.
“It’s a fairly remote, rugged area and not threatening any structures,” said Dave Boyd, spokesman for the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit.
“It’s actually helping out clearing the dead and down … it makes sense in terms of firefighter safety and allocation of resources to let it burn naturally,” Boyd said.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
