CANON CITY, Colo.—Firefighters were battling a 700-acre wildfire burning west of Canon City on Tuesday as hot and dry weather continued.
The fire, burning near the scenic Royal Gorge Bridge, has forced an unknown number of residents from their homes and has destroyed several structures. It wasn’t immediately known whether any of those were homes.
Multiple fire starts were reported in the area Monday and the Fremont County sheriff’s office notified 177 phone customers—business and residential—to evacuate. Fire crews worked through the night to prevent the fire from crossing U.S. Highway 50 and early Tuesday some of those evacuated were allowed to return to their homes.
Other areas, including the suspension bridge that crosses the 1,200-foot deep Royal Gorge over the Arkansas River, remained off limits. River rafting through the gorge has also been shut down because of the fire.
Cass Cairns, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, didn’t know how many people were still being kept away from their homes.
She said firefighters have gotten help from aircraft brought in to fight a larger fire in the Great Sand Dunes National Park to the south. That 4,766-acre wildfire on steep terrain wasn’t threatening any homes. The park has remained open since it began with a lightning strike June 6.
Risk of wildfires remained high across much of western and southern Colorado because of dry, warm weather and expected strong winds.
The cause of the fire near Canon City is still under investigation.
