The burning in southern Colorado raced across more than 17 square miles overnight, forcing middle-of-the-night evacuations and making it the ninth .
Firefighters faced “extreme fire behavior” as the fire ran into Colorado City, up Table Mountain and to Bondurant Road, the Alaska Complex Incident Management Team said in an 8 a.m. update. Flames have consumed 66,896 acres, or more than 100 square miles, as of Friday morning.
The Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office ordered shortly before 1 a.m., including west of Interstate 25 between Huerfano County and Burnt Mill Road, west Hatchett Ranch and Burnt Mill Road.
The fire impacted Colorado City and crews are working to protect homes as the flames advance, fire officials said.
“Firefighters working along Siloam Road defended structures and used tactics to move the fire around structures as the fire crossed the road in the early morning hours,” the incident management team said in an update.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
