Firefighters scrambled throughout southeast Colorado late Saturday to fight wild grass fires whipped by the wind.
Structures have burned in Baca County, and mandatory evacuations were in effect after a grass fire that started in Oklahoma jumped north across the state line. The fight was complicated by a secondary fire sparked when a vehicle rolled over in a highway accident, officials said.
Southbound U.S. 287 was closed for a time, and authorities were offering shelter to evacuated residents in the Campo Community Center. Authorities said late Saturday that a fire of between 1,800 and 2,000 acres was 85 percent contained, but that evacuations were still in place.
Meanwhile, multiple agencies in Bent County were also fighting a wind-whipped grassland fire, and authorities there said they may have had some firefighting equipment damaged by the fast-moving flames. There were a small number of evacuations in Bent County.
Closer to the metro area, officials said a fire burning near Evergreen Parkway and Squaw Road remained at 40 acres and was 75 percent contained.
The Crystal fire in Larimer County, which destroyed 13 structures, is now 90 percent contained.
