90 Homes Evacuated Near Colo. Wildfire
Pastor Dale Morgan
90 Homes Evacuated Near Colo. Wildfire*
Wednesday June 20, 2007 4:46 AM
By CATHERINE TSAI
Associated Press Writer
NEW CASTLE, Colo. (AP) - White and yellow smoke billowed into the
western Colorado sky Tuesday as firefighters battled three wildfires
likely sparked by lightning that have burned at least 2,000 acres and
forced evacuations of 90 homes.
One fire was burning in steep terrain dotted with rural subdivisions
between New Castle and Glenwood Springs, about 160 miles west of Denver.
The blaze had grown to 1,000 acres, or about 1.5 square miles.
No structures had burned, but one firefighter suffered a hand injury,
said Suzanne Silverthorn, a spokeswoman for fire commanders.
Residents of 110 more houses were advised to leave. It was not
immediately known how many people had left their homes. Three people had
checking to a school being used as an emergency shelter in New Castle.
``It's been a really scary fire,'' Garfield County Sheriff Lou Vallario
said. ``Its behavior has been bizarre. We're struggling to get a handle
on it.''
Bureau of Land Management spokesman David Boyd said the fire was moving
east, toward the homes. On Monday, firefighters said the flames were
within a half-mile of houses, but Boyd had no new distance on Tuesday.
A second fire in a remote and rugged area near the town of Cameo, 180
miles west of Denver, had reached 1,000 acres by Tuesday morning but had
not grown further by mid-afternoon, BLM spokeswoman Mel Lloyd said.
Three aircraft and 75 ground crew members were on scene.
One fire near Parachute had been held to just 4 acres but was a concern
because it was just 200 yards from homes and natural gas wells.
All three fires were blamed on lightning strikes Sunday.
About 200 firefighters, five aircraft and six fire engines were battling
the fire near New Castle, and more crews were on the way.
The wind began to pick up Tuesday afternoon, as fire managers feared,
and tongues of flame and black smoke were visible within the white plume.
The fire was not far from the site of the July 1994 Storm King Mountain
wildfire that killed 14 firefighters.
In California, a wildfire broke out Tuesday in a brush-filled canyon
below a residential neighborhood in northern San Diego.
A city firefighting helicopter was brought in before sundown to drop
water on the fire. No evacuations were reported.