Colorado fire burns 500 acres an hour
Wildfire may force 40,000 from Denver area
'Real scary, dangerous fire'
June 10, 2002 Posted: 4:51 PM EDT (2051 GMT)
DENVER, Colorado (CNN) --A wildfire burning in the Pike National Forest southwest of Denver overnight gobbled up timberland at a rate of more than 500 acres an hour, growing to 25,700 acres, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Although burning more than 40 miles from downtown Denver, the fire was depositing large amounts of smoke and soot across the city. Different sections of the blaze were spreading in Park, Jefferson and Douglas counties, spurring evacuations in Deckers, Colorado, Trumbull, the Wigwam Creek area, as well as areas west of Colorado Highway 67.
Numerous local roads, including part of Colorado 67, have been closed because of the quickly growing fire.
The flames were threatening at least 20 residences, 20 outbuildings and four commercial properties, but none had been lost or damaged, according to the Forest Service. At least 120 firefighters are battling the wildfire with more en route.
The fire, known as the Hayman Fire, began Saturday afternoon from an illegal campfire in Park County, about six miles northwest of Lake George.
In western Colorado, near Glenwood Springs, authorities on Sunday afternoon reopened a corridor of Interstate 70 that had been closed because of a raging wildfire nearby.
Traffic was moving once again in both directions, according to the Colorado Highway Patrol.
Earlier, authorities had closed a 69-mile stretch of I-70 between Rifle and Wolcott because of heavy smoke and encroaching flames.
Evacuations were mandated for residents in the western part of Glenwood Springs and by late Sunday morning sheriff's deputies cleared the numerous campgrounds in the area, telling campers to leave immediately.
Jill Peterson with the Garfield County Sheriff's Department said it's a familiar scene to residents, who have experienced similar fires in the past.
"No injuries as far as I know," she said, but added that 40 structures had been damaged. Peterson said officials estimate the fire was spread across 7,000 acres, and was zero percent contained.
Peterson said about 250 emergency responders and 100 National Guard members were working the fire, and the high, gusting winds of Saturday were calmer in the morning.
About 2,000 people were evacuated from houses and nearby lodges -- some to the Spring Valley Campus of Colorado Mountain College -- seven miles southeast of town on highway 82.
Red Cross representative Kathleen Golding said about 200 people had already made their way to the campus, which had opened up its cafeteria and its dorm rooms to help feed and house the newly homeless.
"We know for a fact that a lot of people here won't go home before Wednesday," Golding said. "Some have lost everything. There's a family of six children and mom and dad, elderly and the handicapped," describing the crowd inside the cafeteria. Golding said 16 beds set aside for the disabled were instantly filled.
The campus is also feeding some of the firefighters, with 400 meals prepared just for them and another 260 meals added for the evacuees. "It's changing constantly as the situation changes," Golding added.
The Glenwood Springs fire may have started from a coal seam in the area that has been burning since the 1970s. Officials said the seam had been blamed for starting other fires in the past.
Glenwood Springs is located about 160 miles west of Denver along Interstate 70.
Colorado is a tinderbox with the fire threat in half the state rated in the extreme category, with the rest of Rocky Mountain state earning a high to very high fire danger rating from the Forest Service.
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