Western U.S. Wildfires Rage, Forcing Evacuations
Raging wildfires forced hundreds of residents to flee homes in Colorado and New Mexico on Sunday as high winds and high temperatures fanned the flames, authorities said.
Colorado’s High Park Fire, about 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Fort Collins, was burning out of control and had scorched an estimated 14,000 acres (5,700 hectares), Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith said.
The fire “continues to grow,” he told an afternoon briefing.
Hundreds of residents were under mandatory evacuation orders, and authorities closed several camping areas in the Roosevelt National Forest.
Fueling the fire in Colorado were temperatures rising above 90 Fahrenheit (32 Celsius).
“The stiff winds and dry conditions make this very, very tough” to fight, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper told a news conference.
The sheriff said the blaze had destroyed about 18 buildings, and one person was missing within the fire zone.
An 80-mile-long (130 km) plume of smoke was visible across northeast Colorado and in Wyoming. The sheriff said fire fighters believed a lightning strike on Friday night sparked the blaze.
In central New Mexico, about 1,500 people fled the “Little Bear” fire near the resort community of Ruidoso to shelters set up by churches and the Red Cross.