GUNNISON, Colo.—A wildfire burning on an estimated 100 acres north of Gunnison prompted evacuations of 58 homes, but residents were allowed to return as firefighters got closer to fully containing it Friday, Gunnison County officials said.
The fire was 70 percent contained Friday night, and winds were dying down, county emergency manager Scott Morrill said.
West of Gunnison, another fire was burning on an estimated 40 to 100 acres. Sheriff’s officials said residents could start preparing to leave just in case. The terrain made access to the burn area difficult for firefighters, but no structures were immediately threatened, Morrill said. An aircraft was lined up to attack the fire starting Saturday, he said.
It wasn’t clear how either fire started.
Meanwhile about 35 miles southwest of Denver, firefighters planned to stay overnight at a 5-acre wildfire on grassy terrain in the Pike National Forest in Jefferson County. The fire was about 15 miles from where a March wildfire scorched 6 square miles and killed as many as three people.
The new Jefferson County fire appeared to have been caused by a downed power line, sheriff’s spokesman Mark Techmeyer said. Firefighters requested an aerial tanker, but it was too windy for it to fly, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman said. No structures were lost.
In Routt County, officials quickly contained a fire that burned a little more than an acre. Sheriff’s Sgt. Kurtis Luster told The Steamboat Pilot & Today () the fire started after a tree blew over and knocked down a power line. There were no reports of any structures being damaged.
Crews also battled other small fires around the state. Colorado is abnormally dry for this time of year following a March with little rain or snow. Gunnison and Routt counties were in an area that National Weather Service forecasters said was under a red flag warning Friday because of gusty winds, low humidity and dry vegetation that could fuel a fast-growing wildfire.
A gust of 77 mph was reported at Monarch Pass in central Colorado, and a gust of 58 mph was reported at Wolf Creek Pass in southwest Colorado.
It was so windy in parts of the mountains Friday afternoon that ski areas including Copper Mountain and Steamboat didn’t run some of their lifts, and Breckenridge shut down a gondola.
The wind created blowing dust in southern Colorado. State health officials reported satellite images showed dust clouds stretching from Center northeast to Colorado Springs.
